Paging Dr George
by KayKayeLLe
Summary: [[COMPLETED]] Mary hides an illness from those closest to her and rekindles a longlost friendship. [M&W] C35- I'm finishing up with some Wilson angst, along with some closure and Camden goodness.
1. It's a Small World

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing here- not the setting or the characters. They belong to Brenda and Co. The only things that are mine are the events and the ever-popular Dr. George.

**You should know**: This story is circa Season 8 I guess. I don't think I precise date is al that necessary with this one. Now, I could tell you what was going on, but what fun would that be? None at all. Only thing I am saying is, yet again, there is no Carlos. Everything else you will be forced to figure out on your own. Deal with it; embrace it loyal readers.

Paging Dr. George 

Wilson West walked through the corridors of one of the twohospitals in the ever-growing small town of GlenOak, California. He seemed to be truly indifferent to anything going on around him. When people usually go to the hospital, it is to see a sick friend or relative. In general, these are not pleasant meetings, and are filled with anxiety and sadness. His trip, however, had started out as a happy one. Innocently enough, Wilson's excursion was to see his older brother, his idol, who had just become a doctor here only four short months ago. 

He walked through the halls thinking happy thoughts and reminiscing about playing with his brother in their backyard when they were just boys. Thinking about his sibling, though, made him think of his father, and then of his mother, so he quickly stopped thinking altogether. It was too painful for him to manage at the moment. 

When he walked toward the hospital nursery, Wilson heard someone else in pain as well. Whoever they were, they sounded as if they were crying their eyes out. It was not a pleasant day at the hospital for them. Under further inspection, however, Wilson recognized the crying. For whatever reason, he knew the sound of those tears.

Wilson stopped in the middle of the drab strip and turned down the one that the nursery was on, determined to seek out the origin of the familiar wailing. When he reached his destination, he saw none other than a proverbial twenty-two year old woman. Brown hair, not blonde, and about seven pounds heavier, it was still unambiguous who he saw. 

He made his way over to her, undetected, and stood at her side. He waited a while before he said anything, afraid to make the first move and even more afraid to make contact with her again. The ups and down of their past relationship still haunted him in his sleep, so he was a little more than apprehensive about speaking. 

Nevertheless, he had to say something. 

"Hi," he said plainly. A normal person would ask the other's name, just to make sure that it was who they thought it was. Wilson found no need for that. Standing next to her, she was unmistakable. It was almost as if they had never been apart. When she finally looked up at him, he realized though that he was wrong. Not wrong about the woman's identity, mind you, but it seemed as if they were miles and miles away from each other as they traveled on their own paths. Before, it always felt as if they were traveling together somehow.

"Wilson?" she asked him. It was not that she didn't know who he was, but unlike him she needed the confirmation. It had certainly been a while, and in her frazzled state she had to admit that her brain was not functioning at its full capacity. Many would argue that it never operated at its full capacity, but that was another issue entirely. 

He nodded for confirmation. The real question, though, was where to go from here. As he stared at her, he remembered why he was standing next to her in the first place. "Are you all right?"

Quickly she wiped her eyes. In the shock of seeing him again, she had completely forgotten how wet her cheeks must have been. "I'm fine."

"You know Mary, you never were a good liar."

"Yeah, well…" she responded. She wanted to flash smile at him; the thought of him still knowing her so well made her blush. However, she wasn't in the right state of mind to flirt with anyone. Even to Mary Camden, flirting seemed to be so arbitrary in the midst of her less than perfect life. She had to admit, though, that his presence intrigued her. From the moment he saw her, possible scenarios of why he was here ran through her mind. The next course of action, decidedly so, was to ask him his purpose. "So, what brings you here?"

Wilson thought for a moment. "Here as in GlenOak of here as in the hospital?"

Finally, Mary smiled. She couldn't help it. In all of this time he hadn't changed a bit; she still found him to be pleasantly charming and downright adorable. "Either one is fine with me."

"Well, my brother is a doctor here. Actually, he just started a few months ago, and this is the first chance I have had to come out and see him. Besides, he has kind of been begging me to come. My dad had a pretty severe heart attack about six months ago, and he still isn't doing too well. And my mom… isn't all that thrilled with my father anymore. My brother and I are afraid that she'll divorce him and he'll be left with no one. So, basically, I just came to check up on the family- see if it's really as bad as he keeps making it out to be. All the Wests have problems, except for me that is." 

The mention of Wilson's last name threw up a red flag. Mary completely forgot about his last name. Usually, this information would have been unimportant, but linked with the information Wilson had provided prior to that, she could have a major problem- another major problem.  Before saying anything, Mary thought hard about his brother's first name, but she had no luck. He was 6 yeas older than Wilson, she knew that much, and had never met him. By the time the two of them were together, his brother was long gone- off to some fancy college Mary would have had to struggle to afford even with hefty scholarship. "What type of doctor did you say he was?"

"A gynecologic oncologist, if I am saying that correctly."

Mary smiled nervously when Wilson told her and threw her hands up in the air. She started to pace around the tiny hall, looking straight up at the paneled ceiling above them. "It figures, it just figures! After everything you've thrown at me, you have to add this into it! Why?! What could I have possibly done that was that bad?! Huh?!"

In the past, Wilson could recall many a time that Mary had confused him, but it was nothing compared to this. She was running around, shouting things at the ceiling. Mary had definitely hit an all-time low on the sanity front. "Whom are you talking to, exactly?"

"God," she replied hesitantly. Immediately she realized how haughty that must have come across to him. Once again, her father's occupation bit her in the butt. 

"I didn't know you were one to talk aloud to God."

"I can talk to God if I want to talk to God. My father is a minister, in case you have forgotten, so if anyone should be talking aloud to God it should be me." Mary sighed and closed her eyes, feeling awful for snapping at him. Admittedly, the stress was starting to get to her, and she didn't like it one bit. She didn't like opening up to him this fast either. She knew all too well where this conversation was headed, and frankly that made her almost frightened as her reason for being in the hospital did. "Dr. George is your brother, isn't he?"

Wilson looked at her curiously. His brother had just told him that his patients and nurses affectionately called him by his first name nearly all of the time. According to him, practically the whole hospital was into it. "Yes. Why, do you know him?"

Mary heard his question, but refused to answer him. She thought that if maybe she could carefully evade his question, she would not have to answer it at all. She didn't want to have to answer it. Her connection to him was personal, embarrassing, and above all, a secret. "You know, he's such a nice man; a really good doctor. I should have known. Good things don't happen to me, they just don't."

Wilson was completely confused, but Mary's words sparked an idea in that handsome head of his. Finally, things were starting to piece together a little "You do know him. Yes…" he said studying her face, "you do."

"Look," Mary cut him off," I really have to go." She wiped her eyes again. "I have to get to work, and…I just have to go." She smiled nervously, trying to be courteous without puking all over the floor. She knew this would not be the last time she saw Wilson. Evidently, this day proved that there would never be a last time she would see Wilson. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, he was obviously in it for the long haul. "It was really nice to see you again." She had to make a break for it now. His mind-tricking capabilities were unyielding. 

"Wait," he said as she turned her back on him, "can I at least have your number?" Mary grabbed a pen out of her purse, took Wilson's hand, and scribbled her cell phone number on his palm. She turned to leave, but he couldn't get her out of his mind. Mary was as infectious now as she had ever been. "You're not OK, are you?"

Mary couldn't help but laugh. It was by no means a funny situation that she was in, but she couldn't help but giggle not only at him but also at herself. Strangely enough, she found the whole thing very laughable. And, as Wilson's brother often told her, laughter is the best medicine. "Good bye Wilson!" she yelled out when she could no longer see him. She smiled yet again, positive that he was smiling with her at that very moment.

A/N: Now, anyone who has a medical type of brain probably has a better idea of what I am talking about than the average Joe Schmoe fic reader. The rest of you will have to wait for the action-packed second chapter. Oh, and also, no mushy-gushiness quite yet. Possibly later…but who knows? If you see any, feel free to slap me. After 13 stories, I deserve it. And also, this a little bit of a different style for me. I am trying to get away from dialogue. Have you ever picked up a classic American novel and found it to be all dialogue? Certainly not. So now my stuff is going to be more descriptive and wordy. Skimmers need not apply.

Reviews would be fab. You know you want to tell me what you think. How can you resist? ;)


	2. After All

A/N: Just wanted to say that Rosa is mine, but again, no one else but Dr. George is.

A few days had passed, and like so often occurred in Wilson's life, he could not get Mary off his mind. There was something about the way she was acting, Wilson thought, that screamed out for his help. Over and over he ran through the conversation, looking for some indication of what he needed to do for her. The crying, the leaving, the Dr. George. Wilson was a bright man, but not much of a detective. Hours were spent going over those three clues in his head, until he finally reached his conclusion. It all made sense now; he should have noticed it before. 

***

That Friday, five days after he had seen Mary the first time, Wilson acted upon his newfound knowledge. After making a very careful phone call, he had all of the information necessary to work up, what seemed to be, a foolproof plan. This would not only allow him to see Mary again, but would also confirm what he concluded from their mysterious conversation. 

Wilson's theory was that Mary knew his brother, Dr. George West, because she was one of his patients. It actually wasn't that hard to figure out. The real question was why she wouldn't just come right out and tell him that in the first place. As soon as Wilson knew all of this, he called his brother's office. Although George worked in a hospital, he had his own pseudo office within it. He had a receptionist, nurses, and everything. The receptionist, Rosa, had taking a liking to Wilson when Dr. George introduced them. He called and conned her into telling him if there were any appointments for a Mary Camden there. She must have really liked him, because she told him about Mary's Friday morning appointment. 

Everything was moving along smoothly. Wilson entered the office, asked to use the bathroom, and waited outside one of the doors inside the office hallway. There were only three doors closed, one of them was the bathroom, another a nurse was getting things ready for something, and the last one held Mary. He knew that she had to be in there. 

Just to make sure, he listened outside of the door for a while. He couldn't hear much, and certainly could not make out what they were saying, but it was definitely Mary in there with his brother. He could recognize her voice anywhere. Her melodic sound was burned in his brain. He waited for a lull in the conversation, and then pounced on the unsuspecting Camden. 

Wilson, in a very ungentlemanly fashion, barged into the office and startled Mary and George, whom were both seated on either sides of a desk looking over papers. Mary took one look at him and hid her head in her hands. George, however, did not display as much cowardice toward his baby brother.

"What are you doing in here? Is everything all right?" George asked coming toward him. Upon seeing Wilson, his mind had jumped to the worst-case scenario. Something awful had to have happened. Wilson was certainly no fool.

"No, no. Everything is fine…" his eyes fell on Mary, "at least I hope they are." He continued to stare at Mary until his brother pulled him out of his stupor.

"Then what are you doing here? You know you're not allowed to just barge on in my appointments." George was talking very fast and very loud. "This young lady-"

"Mary," Wilson told him.

"What, are you stalking her or something? What is wrong with you?"

"Stop. Please don't yell at him," Mary spoke up with a twinge of compassion in her voice. "I'd much rather it be Wilson who barged in here than someone else."

The doctor's eyebrows rose in confusion. "OK, I'm lost here," he admitted. "Please, someone, fill me in." He glared at Wilson. "I'm dying to know," he said sarcastically.

"We know each other," Wilson said triumphantly.

"Wow! What a small world!" Dr. George was unenthused. "That still doesn't give you the right to come in here like you did. Now, if you would like to talk to this young woman, you'll have to wait your turn like everyone else. Now go. I don't want to see you back in here; I mean it." His tone was stern yet lighthearted. His intention was not one of malice, but he needed to prove his point to Wilson. A doctor's office was a sacred place. Dr. George ushered Wilson out of the "discussion" room, as he had called it, and closed the door quickly behind him. He was a new Doctor, and he couldn't have people questioning his professionalism based upon Wilson's peculiar act.

Wilson decided he would take his advice and wait for Mary to finish with her appointment. He looked around the waiting room area and assessed his surroundings. There were two women seated- one about fifty years Wilson's senior and the other somewhere in her twenties. The walls were decorated with three posters. One had a beach scene, the other a slightly disturbing one of two women holding hands, and the legendary picture of a cat with the caption "hang in there" at the bottom. Wilson wondered what that was all about. He took the seat closest to Rosa and, as he sat, noticed the pamphlets that cluttered the top of her desk. They all had titles like "So you've been diagnosed with cancer…" and "Cancer and You." Wilson looked at them quizzically before turning to Rosa. "What kind of doctor is my brother, exactly?"

Rosa looked at him sympathetically. "Oh honey," she muttered. Rosa was a middle-aged Italian woman. She had thick, black hair and almost always spoke with extreme enthusiasm. She had taken a liking to Wilson in a mature woman kind of way. "You know what a gynecologist does, right?" He nodded. "Well, he does that, but only the cancer part of it. That's what an oncologist is- a cancer doctor."

Wilson's face went white as a ghost and he slumped back down against the back of the chair. Cancer- he ever would have guessed it. Poor, sick Mary; no wonder she was crying the other day. Wilson felt the utmost sympathy for Mary as well as for his brother, who had to deal with this kind of thing day in and day out.

"You OK?" Rosa asked. He nodded sullenly. "This has to do with that girl…" she looked at the computer monitor, "Mary Camden, doesn't it?" Again, he nodded. He didn't know what else to do. Rosa put her hand on his shoulder, signaling that she understood. "It will be OK, really."

"Yeah," he mumbled. Although Mary had not yet confirmed it, everything made too much sense for him to be wrong. He felt as if he was in a parallel universe- one in which Mary was dying at an ever-increasing rate. Wilson, like most other people, believed in a theory that was mostly true: cancer was a death sentence. The treatment itself was usually a slow and painful death. He knew that Mary was strong, but no one was stronger than this dreaded illness. In the back of his mind, he knew that you could beat it, but that was an unconceivable feat at the moment. The only concept relatively within his grasp was that Mary has some form of cancer. Wilson wanted to cry.

Twenty minutes passed before Mary and George came out of the same room that Wilson had before. He heard them enter the hallway, Mary crying and George trying his best to console her. Wilson belted toward her. His heart broke when he saw George trying but failing miserably at making her feel better. It was no use, he figured. It wouldn't fix Mary's health. He told George that he could take it from here and walked with Mary to the door.

"Wait," she said accompanied by a snivel. "I have to make another appointment." Mary did so, speaking in a very diminutive and somber voice, and then they left. She walked down the hallways with her arms crossed over her chest as a defense mechanism. She felt as if he could see right through her. When they finally got outside, Mary turned and looked at him. "Well, thanks for walking me out."

"Mary, I-I…" Wilson stammered. He didn't know what he was supposed to say to her. Already things had become so complicated. Why couldn't' anything in life ever be easy?

Mary looked up at him. He could see the fear in her eyes. He never knew that she could be so scared. In all the years he knew her, she was pretty fearless. "Look, you have to promise me you won't run around telling anyone," she offered and he agreed. She sighed heavily before speaking again. "I have cervical cancer." He went to hug her, but she moved away from him. "I don't want to go there- especially not now. I'm going to go, but you can call me. I gave you the number."

Wilson nodded. "I'll be in touch."

"I know you will." Mary ran her fingers through her hair, unsure of what to do next. "Good bye," she finally said, and walked to her car.

Wilson sighed. He was not a fan of the "mysterious exit."

A/N: Again, let me say that I am no medical expert. I did some research, a lot of research, but there probably still is a lot of errors in my details or depiction of cervical cancer. And also, I know this is my second story I wrote with Mary having cancer, but the other one (Less Than Blessed) was about Mary hiding it, and things in general, from her family. This is about…oh darn. Slight snafu. Oh well.

I would appreciate any reviews you would like to throw my way.


	3. Mary's Got a Little Lamb

After dinner that night, Mary was feeling pretty low. Spaghetti and meatballs was on of her most favorite meals, but she had no appetite whatsoever tonight. She really wanted tyo eat and enjoy the meal with her family, but she didn't have it in her. She only had enough strength to put up her everything-is-normal front for another night.

Mary excused herself from the dinner table earlier than she usually had been doing, having eaten only half of her plate's worth of food, and still no one said anything to her. When she went upstairs, she was beginning to think that her family was really stupid. All of the signals were definitely there- something was clearly wrong. Yet they picked up on nothing. Therefore, she concluded that either they didn't care, or they were really dumb. Both options weren't too appealing.

In her purse on the desk of her bedroom, Mary's cell phone began to ring- "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It startled her, and after seeing that the primitive Caller ID did not recognize the number, answered the call.

Evidently, Mary did indeed have a little lamb following her around, Wilson.

"Hi Mary," he said after she answered. "I hope you don't mind me calling, or anything, but you did say that I could call, and…"

"Did you want something?" she asked to counter his ramblings.

"Yes. I wanted to make sure that you were OK." Mary was silent for a while. She didn't want to lie to him and say that she was, but just the same she didn't want to admit that she wasn't either. Somehow, though, she knew that Wilson knew that without her having to say anything at all. Mary crossed her arm over her chest, having the feeling that he could see right though her. She felt as transparent as a piece of cellophane. "If you want me to do anything at all, just name it." Still, she didn't say anything, so he continued. "I feel like I need to be doing something for you. This must be so hard for you Mary."

"I know you mean well Wilson, but I don't need you to do anything for me and I especially don't nee you pity. I can handle myself just fine." Mary sighed heavily. She didn't know how to handle this, or anything for that matter.

"I'm sorry. I didn't-" he stopped and paused. "I know tomorrow is Sunday and everything, and you're probably tired, but would you want to go out to dinner tomorrow night? Just as friends of course."

"Just as friends?" she asked. He confirmed his nonsexual intentions and she smiled. "I'd like that." Her mood had certainly improved and he knew it. Wilson smiled, too; knowing that he made her happy made him happy. "Don't pick me up or anything, though. I'll meet you somewhere."

"OK," he said. Mary was more than thankful that he didn't ask any questions. "The Pool Hall at seven?"

"Great," Mary responded and hung up. At least she had something to look forward to, and someone who cared about her. She smiled to herself again in a sad way, knowing that tomorrow night's dinner would be very interesting at the least.

A/N: I know that this is really short, but I felt bad that I hadn't put up a chapter in a while so I gave you this. Next chapter- Mary and Wilson at the Pool Hall. I'm afraid it will be more dialogue. I'm really going to try for it to not be, but it's going to be hard to have an in-depth conversation without mostly dialogue. Oh well. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Reviews don't cost a thing, just like my love for my loyal readership. 


	4. Confession Is Good for the Soul

Seven o'clock came sooner than Mary had expected. All day, she was secretly awaiting their meeting. She was overly anxious to escape her family and to see a new, yet old and comforting, face. Also, underneath her tough exterior, she was as weak as anyone else. She was afraid she would crack under the pressure and say something that would lead to the demise of her master plan- the plan that clearly stated she would not tell her family or anyone else unless it was above and beyond absolutely necessary.

She already threw caution to the wind when she told Wilson at the hospital the other day, but the way she saw it that provided her with an easy out. She might be able to use him now and not have to keep everything a big secret. Keeping it all inside was a lot harder than one might expect, and it was only adding to the insurmountable problems she would soon have to face.

When she got out of her car in the Pool Hall parking lot, she took a deep breath. Mary wondered which car in the parking lot could be his. Did he drive into town from wherever his is living now, or did he fly? Where did he come here from? Questions flooded her mind and she realized that she really didn't know all that much about Wilson. She knew the old Wilson, and although he seemed to be the same person, a lot can happen in a year- almost two now. And, for the record, she didn't feel as if he really knew her either. He did at one point, no doubt about that, but he didn't anymore. The thought of that made her sad. She had spent so many hours with him and felt as if they could have been put to better use. Evidently, they were worthless.

She walked through the doors of the eatery and was pleasantly surprised to see him waiting a few feet from the entrance. Some things hadn't changed at all; he was still as nice and gentleman-like as ever. 

Wilson smiled at Mary when she walked over to him. Part of him didn't believe that she would show up, but there she was, looking as beautiful as she ever did. Her mood seemed to have improved since he last saw her, and that was a good thing. He wasn't too comfortable seeing Mary so emotional; that wasn't the way she usually acted and it creeped him out a little. 

They sat down at their table and ordered, but other than that they were pretty quiet. They both knew something was going on with Mary, so it was a little bit harder than it normally would have been to strike up a conversation. 

When the food came, though, the quiet was no longer to Mary's liking. "You know, every single time we came here you always got chicken. Is the chicken here really that good?"

Wilson laughed. "You've never had their chicken?" Mary shook her head. Wilson ripped off a piece for her to try and handed it to her.

"Not bad," she commented, and then continued to eat her own meal. Halfway through her dish, Mary remembered what she wanted to share with Wilson. She lost her appetite.

Instantly, he noticed something was wrong with her. Sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse, Wilson had no idea how to turn off his Mary radar. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Mary put her napkin down. "Not really." She looked away from him for a second, debating whether or not she should divulge her entire life story to Wilson or not. She felt like telling him was risking a lot, but she didn't think she had that much to loose at this point. "I'm just not doing all that well, psychologically. I'm having trouble dealing with it all." 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Wilson asked. He sympathized with her and would do anything he could to help her out at this point.

Mary dove headfirst. "Just let me talk a little?" Wilson nodded, completely unsure of where she was going with this. "I just feel really bad. I mean, I'm angry. I can't be sick…I don't feel sick. I don't want to be sick, especially not this sick. I guess, I guess I'm just a woman facing my own mortality."

"That's understandable," he commented. "This has to be pretty scary for you."

"It is. And the worst part- the stupidest part is…I haven't told my parents. Or my brother and sisters or anyone besides you." Wilson's jaw slightly dropped, but underneath the surface he was not surprised. This was a typical stunt that Mary would pull. "I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't want them to know about it and feel bad for me. I don't want their pity; I don't want anyone's pity. It's just that it's hard to go through something this huge and not have them know. I feel really alone."

Instinctively, Wilson reached for Mary's hand. "But you're not alone," he reminded her. "You have me." Mary pulled her hand away quickly from Wilson's. Having him wanting to be close to her scared her, anyone being close to her scared her. "I'm sorry," he said, quickly apologizing. "I shouldn't have done that. I was out of line." Wilson sighed, silently cursing himself for throwing himself at her, especially so soon. "But maybe you should tell your family. I know that they would want to know, and that they would be pretty angry with you for hiding this from them."

"But if I tell them, they're going to want to take care of me. I can look after myself just fine."

"You're sick. You need to be taken care of," he reminded her. Wilson looked at Mary seriously. She really needed to tell her family- at the very least her parents.

"No I don't. I've taken care of things. When I found out I was sick, I moved back here and in with them. I quit my job as a flight attendant and got a job at a book store- a told the owner I was sick when I applied and he agreed to let me work around that. The only reason I am working is so that I have my own health insurance and can pay for food and my car."

Wilson sighed. "But you can't…" he stopped and started again, "you can't do this. I don't think you'll be able to pull it off."

"Watch me," she snapped back at him. Mary took another bite of her food, and then changed her tone. Although she was pretty good at it, she didn't like being rude to people. "So, what's going on with you? You look something is going on."

"Well, I decided I have to move back here. My parents don't love each other anymore. I don't know what happened, but it's just not there any longer. And my brother under inflated everything over the phone. My dad has a nurse service coming in to see him twice a day, he's on a bunch of medication, and it's just bad. He's going to be OK, or so I am told, but he needs my mom and she doesn't want to help him. So I'm moving back here to help out with them. And George is out here, too, and it'll be nice to have family around. I haven't had that for a while."

Mary nodded. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to that. "But what about just you? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. More fine than I've been…in seven years."

"How is Billy?"

"He's good. My mom is really happy to see him again- he's helping to take her mind off of everything."

Mary finished the last of her soda and stared at him for a little bit. It really was nice to see him again- pretty comforting in a way. "Well, I guess I should get going. I just told my parents that I was going out for dinner. I didn't say I was meeting anyone, especially not you, and I don't want them to get suspicious."

Wilson laughed at Mary. She was definitely still nutty. "How can you just keep lying like this?"

Mary stood and smiled at him. "It gets easier after the first thousand times you do it," she explained. "It was nice seeing you again, and even better to talk to you. Maybe we could do it again sometime?"

"Sure." Wilson reached behind him and grabbed his napkin and wrote his telephone number on it. "My cell phone number," he said as he handed it to her. "Don't hesitate to call if you need me, or want to talk or something. I'm here if you need me Mary."

"I figured you would be, and I'm sure I'll be in touch sometime." Wilson stood up next to her and there was an awkward silence. They didn't know how they were supposed to say good-bye to one another. Spontaneously and without any real thought, Mary hugged Wilson quickly. When she pulled away, Mary looked Wilson straight in the eye. "Can I ask you one favor though?"

"Go ahead."

"Promise me that we'll just be friends. I don't want to be rude or anything, but I just don't think I could-"

"Don't worry. You're not that irresistible."

Mary laughed. "Good. Good night and thanks." 

With that, Mary walked out of the Pool Hall and into her car. She drove back to the Camden home with a lot on her mind. When she finally arrived home, she walked in the back door and was greeted by her parents.

"That was a long dinner," Eric said.

"It was a nice dinner," Mary said.

"Oh? Anything you want to tell us?"

Mary thought for a second. Could Wilson really get inside her head that much? Could her change her entire way of thinking in only a few hours? Nah. Their connection was strong, but not that strong. Mary kissed her father on the cheek, and then her mother. "Good night. I love you both."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I just had no motivation for any of this. Then "A Walk to Remember" came on TV last night and I was inspired, I guess you could say. And no, that was not supposed to be a hint for any upcoming plotlines. Although… ;)

Hope you liked this chapter. Please review it!


	5. She'll Be a Survivor

When Wilson arrived back at his parents home that night, he was surprised to find his brother, George, playing with his son. When Billy saw his father, he walked over to him and his face lit up like a candle on a birthday cake. He looked up to Wilson in more ways then could be counted, and most of the time Wilson didn't know what he had done to deserve such a great son. Upon further reflection, basically everything in his life right now was great- with the exception of all but two things. His parents being one, and Mary being the other. He couldn't get Mary out of his mind. All he kept thinking was…something he shouldn't be thinking. He always seemed to jump to the worse case scenario, scaring himself in the process.

He was so shaken up over Mary's poor health that he had to do something about it. If he left himself to his thoughts he would go crazy with anxiety and fearfulness for someone who still held her own little place in his heart. Wilson pulled George aside, determined to squeeze out any information he could about Mary from him.

"I can't tell you anything. Patient-doctor confidentiality. That goes against just about every doctor rule in the book."

"So? I'm your brother," Wilson said, although he knew George would need more convincing.

"So what? Just because we are related doesn't mean I can discuss Mary Camden with you." Wilson sighed heavily, saddened by his lack of information. This made George curios. "Why is she so important to you though? I don't get it Wilson."

"Mary and I dated for four and half years, not continuously. We were engaged, kind of…we almost got married. I've known her since she was only fourteen. We used to be so close."

"Why didn't you say so?" he said to Wilson, his tone of voice completely changing. He sounded almost astonished that Wilson used to be so serious with Mary and that George never really knew about her. 

"You'll tell me something?"

George sighed. He knew that he shouldn't be doing this, but Wilson sounded desperate. It wasn't like Wilson was some psycho, either, and the two of them were very close. It was all _that_ wrong. "Depends. What do you want to know?"

Wilson looked down at the floor and was quiet for a few minutes before being able to voice the one question he had been asking himself over and over for days now. "Is she going to die?"

George turned serious. "Well, that's really hard to say. Cancer affects everyone differently. She hasn't started any treatment though, and that is pretty much a deciding factor on how things are going to go." George was frank with Wilson, "Basically, she'll either be pretty much OK, or not too good. And, if you want a sincere answer, this is when women get this type of cancer- generally when they are in Mary's age group. But…"

"But what?" Wilson said, scared for his brother to finish his sentence.

"Any type of cancer, though, at that young of an age, is not the best thing- I'm sure you know that. Cancer when you're old is like your body shutting down or malfunctioning after so many years of use; there is more of a reason behind it. Cancer in your twenties is unexplainable in a scary kind of way."

"So she's not going to make it?" he asked sullenly. 

"I didn't say that. She has a tough road ahead of her, but she seems like someone who can handle it. Besides, she is in good health everywhere else, so she has a better chance of beating it." Wilson looked almost optimistic, and George frowned. He didn't want to give his brother false hope. "She has a good chance Wilson, but cancer is still cancer. There is no way of getting around that."

***

A few days later, Mary had yet another one of her many appointments with Dr. George. No examination was going on today, but rather they were talking in the "discussion" room. After all, that was what the room was there for. Dr. George had become accustomed to having these types of appointments for his patients every so often. He knew that if he were diagnosed with cancer, it would be almost impossible to cope, so he scheduled appointments for them to talk about things often. It was more like a mental breath of fresh air, at least in the philosophical sense.

These meetings also allowed George to get inside of his patient's head and see what they were really thinking about him and their illness, besides getting better acquainted with one another in general. One thing he took away from his medical training was that being mentally prepared was almost half the battle. If his patients weren't thinking correctly, or thinking "healthy", then everything would be much harder on everyone- family, friends, themselves, and him. No one liked unnecessary roughness. 

His appointment with Mary was more of a combination appointment. Part of it was for the mental evaluation; the other was to discuss her impending treatment. You never just had cancer and did not do anything about it. There was always treatment, and the treatment was what everyone was afraid of. It was not the disease that was painful, but everything that it entailed. 

"So," George said trying to make friends with his patient, "you seem to be doing OK on the outside. You don't appear to be depressed or any of the normal stuff."

Mary laughed. "I can promise you that I am not depressed. But, I'm not all that wonderful. I mean, I feel just fine, but on the inside it's a mess."

Dr. George cocked his head. "Why is that?"

"Because this has all changed my life so much. But then again, maybe it hasn't changed my life. This is just yet another thing to add to my list of things I've hidden from everyone." Mary bit her tongue as soon as those words came out of her mouth. She didn't want to tell him that she had not yet told her family. Mary didn't need any more undue pressure to divulge the secret inside of her to every warm-blooded Camden walking the earth.

"Well, cancer is a hard thing to deal with, especially when you have your whole life ahead of you. But," he said clasping his hands, "it is not the death sentence that you might think it is. Let's talk about treatment."

"Let's not," she joked. 

He laughed at her, like many other people did. Not only was she nutty, but she was witty, too, and not as unintelligent as everyone might perceive her as being. Everyone, that is, except for the brothers West and the spawn of the younger one. "With your early stage of cervical cancer, I want to go with radiation therapy- it's a very effective treatment especially for cases similar to yours. Now, you'll have to be treated every four or five days- five for our initial test run, weekends and everything. Even if I am not here, a nurse will be and they can administer it for you. The whole process will only take a few minutes, and it will be external."

Mary nodded the entire time, but the last thing George said caught her attention. "External? As opposed to…" she let her sentence drop, allowing him to fill in the blank himself. He did so and nodded at Mary. She made a face that was priceless and indescribable, and George laughed at her again. "Yeah, you are nowhere near at that point so I'll be nice and won't go into it. So, does that sound OK to you?"

"I guess so. It doesn't sound to painful or anything."

"Speaking of painful, would you care to know the side effects?" She told him that she would, just like he had expected. "Most commonly, patients don't have too much of a problem with radiation. After the first two or three weeks you'll start getting tired, and it will gradually get worse, possibly to the point where you can't work or really do much of anything. The other thing is loss of appetite. Not completely, just enough to notice some sort of a difference."

She shook her head affirmatively. "That doesn't sound all that bad."

"Honestly, it's not, but that is just the general side effects from radiation," he explained.

"Oh," Mary responded quietly, allowing him to continue.

"Due to the sensitive area we would be working on…usually women experience tenderness and are inflamed even for several weeks after treatment. And…" Mary's eyes started to get wide; George knew he was scaring her and decided to stop. "But, we haven't started yet so you don't need to worry about any of that now do you? Besides, I'm going to take good care of you. Don't worry."

Even though she was still scared, Mary knew that he meant it. She could tell by looking at Dr. George that he would do everything in his power to ensure that she was healthy and received the best care. For a fraction of a second, Mary was happy. "Thank you."

"Don't mention. You're my patient; it's my job to look out for you. Now, any questions?"

"Just one," she said. "You said I wouldn't be able to work. I have to work. I need health insurance and money for food."

"Medical disability?"

"I took the job after I found out I was sick. It's a little Mom and Pop type bookstore thing, and I've only been working there for about a month."

George sighed. "I don't know what to tell you then. Talk to your employer if you are that concerned, maybe you can work something out. That probably won't be for at least another month, so you have some time to think about all of that."

Mary's face was again sad. "Well, thanks again."

"Like I said before, you're more than welcome. Now if you would be so kind as to make an appointment for sometime later in the week for the radiation I would appreciate it." Mary agreed to do as she was asked. "And if you have any questions Mary, I am in the office a lot. Please don't hesitate to contact me. I realize that this is a lot to swallow in one sitting. And, if you want," George handed her his business card, "you can call me at home. The number's right on there." 

Mary smiled appreciatively and exited the room. George watched her as she left before sinking down in his brown leather desk chair. There were not many occupations where you dealt with life and death situations day in and day out. They were few and far between, just like gentlemen as kind and handsome as the young West men were. With what Wilson had told him the other night, he felt a very personal connection to Mary, just as she did with him. He didn't feel like that with any of his other patients, and that made him promise himself to concentrate as much energy as he possibly could into Mary. With himself as her doctor, there was no doubt whatsoever in his mind that Mary Camden was going to survive cervical cancer.

A/N: Well, I am definitely out of my rut, at least temporarily. Next chapter may be soon, may be not, I'm not all that sure yet. I don't quite know where I am taking this. I have an end without a middle. 

Anyways, again, I have to make my statement: **I know nothing about anything.** However, I did do research on this, a lot of it as a matter of fact. So, most of the stuff in here is pretty factual- health-wise. Anyway, I doubt that I would actually have a gynecologic oncologist reading this, so it should be sufficient enough. But, if you do happen to be one, feel free to correct me.

My inbox is so empty. Please fill it with nice reviews.


	6. Scared Isn't Half As Fun

Mary arrived to her 2:45 appointment scare to death. She didn't know exactly how the radiation was going to be administered, but she guessed however it was done it would be pretty embarrassing. Her appointment wasn't in Dr. George's office; it was in the radiology/oncology part. The other people in the waiting room looked at her sympathetically, like they could tell that it was her first visit there. After about seven minutes, George appeared and she instantaneously felt better. She really wasn't too fond of being alone, especially in places she was unfamiliar with.

George whisked her away into a big white room with a machine it in. He explained to her how the procedure would work. The big machine, which kind of looked like a giant microscope with a table going through the middle, was used to give the radiation by shooting into the exact spot that she needed it. The procedure was done in shielded rooms, so she would have to by herself while this was going on, but luckily it would only be for a little while- no longer than 10 minutes at a time. The type of procedure that would be done was called Cobalt-60 telepathy- whatever that meant. 

Next, he told her to undress and lie down on the table. She could leave her top on, but everything from the belly button down needed to come off. He gave her a sheet to cover her pelvic area with, and said that he would be back in three minutes to set it all up. He stepped out, Mary got undressed and ready, and he walked back in. Mary's feet were shaking she was so nervous. George noticed this and tried to comfort her as best he could, but it was to no avail. She was petrified.

Then George explained the code to her. He would walk out of the room and knock on the door. When Mary heard that, she was supposed to pull the sheet away- there was to be nothing separating the radiation and her bare skin. Then when it was over, he would knock again before he came back in, and Mary was to cover herself back up. She said that she understood and he went to walk out. 

Before he was able to leave the room, though, Mary stopped him. "Are you going to do this for me every time?"

"Probably not," he answered. "I'll do it as often as I can, but there are other people trained to do this who only do this sort of thing- they don't have any other patients to see except those getting radiation. But everyone here is nice, and I'll make sure they take good care of you. You don't have to worry about anything Mary."

She smiled at him and he left. He walked out of the room, knocked on the door, and Mary removed her sheet. About thirty seconds later, she could hear the slight whirring of the machine above her. The treatment had started. Mary had never been so scared in her entire life.

***

After Mary's first three appointments for radiation, she was only starting to begin to feel the effects from the treatment. Just like Dr. George had cautioned her, she was beginning to feel uncharacteristically tired and nowhere near as hungry as she usually would have been. Luckily for her, though, no one in the Camden family noticed. It was only a subtly change, but Mary still felt that they should have noticed something. On some level, she wanted to be caught; she wanted them to ask her about why she was acting so different.

After she got home from work one early night, she was bored. It was a little early for dinner, but that didn't mater because she had no appetite. Mary rummaged through papers on the desk of the attic bedroom until she found what she was little for: Wilson's telephone number. She hadn't spoken to him in a while, and it might be nice just to get out for a few hours and talk. She needed to talk to someone. As she dialed Wilson's number, she was anxious. She didn't know if she should be calling upon him, but she figured it couldn't hurt anymore than internalizing everything did.

The phone rang six times before a disheveled Wilson answered the phone. "Hi Wilson, I'm glad I caught you," Mary said.

"Mary, hi. How are you doing?"

"I could be better, I guess, but I'm not horrible," she explained. "Would you want to meet me somewhere? I…I think I'd like to talk."

"Oh, Mary, I'm not in GlenOak." Mary was perplexed. "I'm in Pennsylvania. I'm moving out to GlenOak this weekend. I'm so sorry."

Mary hopes of any sort of healing conversation with Wilson were dashed as quickly as she had mustered them up. Her face went into a pout that she could not wipe off no matter how hard she tried; she was depressed. "Oh, it's all right. I just thought…but that's OK."

Wilson sighed. She had actually reached out to him, something that he never thought Mary would have the guts to do, and he had to brush her off. His promise he had made before, something he intended on taking to his grave if she needed, was empty. "I feel bad. If you want to talk, I think I could spare a few minutes. I'm only putting my clothes into boxes anyway."

Mary smiled at his attempt to help her. It was sweet and she knew that he genuinely wanted to help her. "That's nice of you, but that's OK. It would be kind of weird to have a phone conversation. You know, not face to face?"

Wilson furrowed his brow. "Why is that? Shouldn't it be the same?" Mary didn't say anything. "Why? What did you want to tell me?"

"Nothing important. I…" Mary stammered, "I don't want to say anything here. That's why I wanted to go out."

Wilson sighed. "Are you sure? I feel bad." That was indeed the truth. Wilson felt awful that Mary was actually opening up to him, something he never would have imagined her doing in a hundred years, and he couldn't be there for her right now when she obviously wanted to talk. He very well knew that she was keeping a lot of things inside and that she still hadn't told her family, and he wanted to be her savior- or at the very least her guiding light toward coming clean or feeling emotionally better. 

"It's fine," she said as tears welled up in her eyes. It wasn't fine, but she couldn't tell him that. The last thing she needed was Wilson to feel that she was "needy" or "clingy." That just wasn't Mary Camden's style. "We can just meet up when you get back."

"Wednesday night for desert?" he offered to her.

"Sounds fine as long as I'm OK."

"Why wouldn't you be OK?"

"I have an appointment Wednesday afternoon. So as long as I'm not tired or anything I can go."

Wilson smiled. "OK, great."

Mary smiled slightly and hung up the phone. She wiped her eyes and sat down on her bed. Mary was amazed at how much better just hearing Wilson's voice made her feel. The phone call was the instant pick-me-up that she needed, even through she got nothing accomplished. However, that depends upon how you look at it. She did get something out of this; she had something to make it through Wednesday for.

A/N: Again, I have never gone through any of this and I am basing all of my knowledge off of what I have found on the Internet. I am not claiming any of this to be at all accurate, but I think it's safe to say that it's somewhere in the ballpark I guess. About the radiation therapy, I based my whole thing kind of off a picture. If you want to see, go to www.***nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1350/v15/fig34.html. (Take out the stars in the address.) That's the picture I used. Other than that, I hope this is OK. The length is kind of not great, but this is what I churned out. I started writing ahead for this, like 7 or 8 chapters ahead, so I can guarantee you some sort of continuation of this story well past what I have on here now. So for those of you who like to plan ahead, plan on reading this thing FOREVER.

Really? You're so sweet. Reviews are like sugar.


	7. It's Called Fear

Mary's treatment was going well, better than she had planned actually. The same was true about things with her family. She was beginning to find that she really was pretty good at hiding things from them. Constantly, though, she worried about how long it would last. She was so scared that she would not be able to keep it up anymore, let something slip, and they would find out that she had cancer. But as far as she knew, no one was suspicious of her. Curios, yes, but not suspicious. Curiosity killed the cat, but suspicion would kill Mary.

She went to work that Wednesday for four hours, telling her family that she had to work the entire day, and then went to her 2:30 radiation appointment. She walked in, sat down, and to her surprise saw Dr. George walk into the waiting room. He hadn't given the radiation to her since the first time she had had the treatment.

"Will I have the pleasure of spending time with the famous Dr. George today?" she asked him light-heartedly. 

"I'm famous?" he asked her jokingly. Mary laughed. "Yes, I'll be giving you your radiation. I felt bad that I kind of left you to yourself, so I made a point to come and do it for you."

"Well, thanks. That means a lot to me. All of these people in here are nice, don't get me wrong, but I'm just more comfortable with you," she explained, flashing him a smile. She really enjoyed him as a person; he was a good man, and so was his brother for that matter. They were so much alike that she thought that was why she felt so at ease with him.

They went into the secluded room that Mary had come to fear so much, and George decided to strike up a conversation to alleviate some of the stress. "So Mary, got any plans for the rest of your day...tonight maybe? A hot date perhaps?"

Mary blushed. "Why, what have you heard? Did he say something to you?"

George looked at her confused. "Who?"

Mary blushed again, but this time because of her false assumption. "You didn't...never mind."

"Oh no," George said to her, "you can't just expect me to forget it. You have to tell me now."

"It's nothing," she said to George. "I'm just going out for dessert with your brother tonight. It's not a date, just as friends."

"Ah, so I was right. I guess I'm out of it then. Apparently Wednesday is the new date night."

"It's not a date!" she said defensively. "I just like talking to him."

"Sure," George said as he finished positioning the machinery for Mary's radiation, "whatever helps you sleep at night Mary. But, in all seriousness, let me just say that if it were a date I would be happy for you. It would be something to help take your mind off of things for a little bit. I don't want them to have to haul you off to the loony bin one day because of all this." George liked the idea of there being a Wilson and Mary. Although he was never around when they were a couple and had never really even seen them together, he thought they would make a pretty decent couple.

"Thanks I guess," she said with a smile.

George looked down at his watch then back up at Mary. "So, ready to get this show on the road?"

Mary audibly sighed. "As ready as I'm going to be. Go fire her up Dr. George."    

***

That night around 8:30, Mary drove down to the GlenOak Promenade where she was to meet Wilson. She parked her car, got out, and strolled around aimlessly for about five minutes when she finally saw him. When he looked at her, it made her nervous. Why was she so nervous? Mary took a few deep breaths as she walked toward him, inhaling through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth. 

When they finally reached each other, they briefly hugged hello and decided that they were both in the mood for some ice cream from The Dairy Shack. Mary ordered some pistachio and Wilson got himself some rocky road. Plastic spoons, styrofoam cups, and napkins in tow, Mary and Wilson walked through the promenade together side by side, shoveling spoonfuls of the flavorsome desserts into their respective mouths. 

They didn't really say all that much, they just walked around for twenty minutes until their ice cream was finished while enjoying the other's company. There was no denying it; they both found comfort in spending time together. Whether it was an escape from the existence of their normal lives, or whether they just enjoyed the comfort an old friend can bring, they both took pleasure in the activity of shooting, or even just standing in, the breeze with each other.

Although all this walking sure was fun, Mary wasn't used to all of that physical activity post-radiation and quickly became very tired. "I…I need to sit down," she told him, the first thing out of her mouth since "pistachio."

They approached a bench against a storefront and Wilson sat down on it as Mary did the same. "Are you all right? Do you want me to do anything for you Mary?"

Mary rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine I think. You see, I, uh, kind of started radiation a couple of weeks ago. I just had my fourth treatment today. And, according to your brother, it can make you pretty tired."

Wilson looked at Mary dumbfounded. Radiation. She was actually going through treatment. Before, it was easy for him to fool himself into not believing that she was sick despite what she and his brother had told to him, but now he couldn't do that anymore. He had to face the music. "Was that what you wanted to tell me when you called a few days ago?" Mary nodded. "I'm so sorry. I feel so bad that I wasn't here for you."

"It doesn't matter," Mary explained to him. "You're here for me now, and that helps."

"Does it?"

Mary thought for a second. "It does actually. Before I just wanted to say it out loud, so that I would have something tangible to hold onto instead of just this vague idea in my head, but it feels more than that now. I guess it could have been anyone before, but now it had to be you."

"You still haven't told your parents?" he questioned.

"Speaking of my parents, I should go." Mary stood up and, without any more interrogation or comments, Wilson walked Mary to her car.

"Is there a reason why you keep on running away?" Wilson asked as Mary got into the vehicle and closed the door.

Mary backed out of the parking spot, but paused for a second before pulling out of the parking lot entirely. She rolled down her window and leaned toward the openness. "It's called fear."

A/N: This chapter is kind of, well, really boring. Nothing happened. She had two conversations and ate a bowl of ice cream. Who cares? And now after this, I kind of have a whole before the next "big thing" in the story- really the first big thing I guess.

Regardless of what I think, no one is reviewing. I got a total of **0** reviews last chapter and to be honest I am starting to get discouraged. If you are actually reading this, I don't care of you love it or hate it, please review just so I know at least one person is looking at this beside myself.


	8. Needier than the Homeless

Mary stepped into her car, a normal routine for the young woman, and turned on her cell phone. Mary punched in some numbers and the phone began to ring in her ear. He answered after a few short rings and greeted her with his extra masculine voice. The mere utter of his voice and her heart skipped a beat. She had been trying desperately to not have this happen to her, but the results were involuntary. He was like an addictive drug that she couldn't get off of, no matter how hard she tried.

Speaking of drugs, it had been almost three weeks since Mary had first started to feel the effects of her radiation that night she met up with Wilson for ice cream. The slight exhaustion she had felt that night was nothing compared to what she had felt lately. She had little to no appetite, often felt queasy, and was more exhausted than she had ever been during one of her big growth spurts from her adolescence. Adding an inch or three didn't hold a candle to the way she felt now.

In spite of everything, on a certain level she was much healthier than she had been in a while. Mary had been having phone conversations with Wilson every night since the now infamous ice cream rendezvous. Wilson put Billy to bed around 8:00 every night, and at 8:25 every night Wilson would receive a call from Mary. They talked about all sorts of things and Mary got so much stuff off her chest this way. Wilson allowed her to vent in a way that she hadn't been able to do in long while. Emotionally she was exceptionally healthy; no longer depressed but for the most part happy.

Her happy demeanor raised a few eyebrows in the Camden household, though, as did her frequent visits to her car every night. They all wondered what was going on with her, but under the instructions of Annie, they were told not to say anything. Like so many times in the past, they were afraid that if they questioned her or commented that they would drive her far, far away. No one wanted to see Mary leave, so they kept their mouths shut. 

Her family still knew nothing, and Wilson was well aware of this. He tried and tried, using all of his persuasive powers over Mary, to get her to come clean, but she was a stubborn woman. He brought t up every chance that he had, but usually dropped it as quickly as he had interjected it into their conversation.

Their nighttime conversation was just winding up for the night, as they both knew that Mary was getting tired. As much as she would have liked to stay on the phone with him, she couldn't keep from yawning in his ear over and over again. 

"So, how are you doing tonight?" Wilson asked Mary.

"I'm doing all right. I ate dinner, but I wasn't really hungry. I'm just really tired. You have no idea how much this takes out of you. It's astonishing." Mary yawned loudly in his ear, once again, and her face went bright red from embarrassment.

"For some reason I believe you." Wilson laughed and Mary smiled. He really understood her. "So, I'll let you go. Go back inside and get some sleep Mare."

"OK," she said giving into her fatigue and agreeing to hang up for the night.

"Do you have radiation tomorrow?"

"No, but I have a full day of work. Radiation is the next day."

"Are you up for it?" Someone had to look out for her. "Because if you feel too tired, there is absolutely no shame in calling in sick. I'm sure your boss would understand."

Mary smiled. His protectiveness, however overbearing it might get, was sweet. His recommendations were always sugarcoated. "I'll be fine," she assured him. "I've learned to judge how much I can do pretty well. Besides, I am only shelving books and standing behind a counter. It's not that tiring. Now good night," she told him. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Good night. And you know if you need me…"

"I can call you, or fax you, or whatever else I can come up with. Maybe I'll pay someone to write it in the sky for you. 'Wilson. Help. From Mary.'"

Wilson laughed at her. "There you go; put that big brain of yours to good use."

Mary sighed. She was all compliment-ed out. "Good night," she said one final time and hit the "end" button on her phone. She turned the power off and got out of the car. She walked inside the house and was not surprised to find half of the family waiting for her return. Ruthie, her mother, and her father.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Eric asked.

"No one," she responded shortly. She wasn't trying to be rude, but she couldn't possibly give them any other answer. Anything else would be way too revealing and so un-Mary-like.

"I knew it was a guy," Ruthie said smiling.

"I never said that it was a guy."

"Ah, but you never said that it wasn't," Ruthie said trying to get inside of Mary's head. The only thing she got out of that was a tired sigh from Mary.

"Are you dating again?" Annie asked her.

"No," she said flatly and a little appalled. "Who told you I was dating?"

"Well, if you were on the phone with a guy…"

Mary rubbed her hands over her face in an annoyed and weary manner. "I don't appreciate when you guys put words in my mouth. I said that I wasn't dating and I never told you who I was on my phone with. But what I am going to tell you is that I have to work early tomorrow morning and I would like to get some sleep before then. I'm going to bed. Good night."

Mary walked up the stairs, unfollowed by everyone and alone. She hated to be alone. How ever necessary being alone might be for her master plan to keep everything she knew inside of her, it still didn't make her like being alone any more. Mary sighed as she pulled her clothes off of her body and replaced them with her pajamas. She crawled into her bed, the one place she seemed to frequent above all else, and pulled the sheets up to her ears. 

She said her prayers before she went to sleep, something she had just recently started doing. When she was little, Mary only prayed when she needed or wanted something badly. Once she got sick, though, she started praying every night. Talking with God and with herself helped her to sort out things and reflect on the day she was putting behind and the day ahead. She asked God to bless her family and to keep them safe for one more day. And, as self as she knew it must have been, she prayed that she would get better soon, and that her family would find it in their hearts to forgive her when she told them about her illness after she got better. But that night, after she got her normal prayers out of the way, Mary added one more. She asked God to bless Wilson. George had been in her prayers weeks ago, but bringing up Wilson was new. Mary felt weird when she asked for this. Everything else she said was almost instinctive and not all that important, but praying for Wilson was something special and sacred. Every word Mary said, she meant it. 

And please bless Wilson, God, because if something happened to him I don't know what I would do with myself.

A/N: Again, no action in this chapter. Next chapter, I promise you, will have some events in it. The plot will move, I tell you, MOVE! This chapter, in all honesty, was filler before the next chapter and to build Mary and Wilson's friendship/bond. I don't think the next chapter would work without this one. You need the friendship…for everything really. So make sure you get it through your heads. Mary and Wilson are friends now. Good friend. Enough said.

It's funny how if I bed for reviews I get them. Thanks for giving me some feedback- it inspired me. Some more reviews would be just peachy!


	9. Sweet Dreams

Time continued to march on, and two more weeks had gone by. Mary and Wilson still talked on the phone every night, but it had been well over a month since they had actually seen one another. With Wilson taking care of Billy and Mary being tired, plus both of them with a steady work schedule, they didn't seem to have anytime to meet face to face. Still, Wilson continually told Mary that if she needed to see him, he would certainly make time. He urged her to come if she ever really needed him, or even if she didn't really need him. 

Unfortunately, though, Mary never got the chance to drop by without a reason. Her nosy parents and siblings were to blame for that. Dr. George decided to up Mary's radiation, as well as the frequency of her treatments, and that was making her considerably more tired. She was forced to call in sick to work many more times than she ever wanted to, and could barely keep her eyes open as she moseyed around the house. Everyone started asking her questions, not that serious, but it still made her nervous. They were on to her. 

Mary's parents were the worst of all. They continually tried to corner Mary and constantly asked her if she was coming down with something or running a fever because of her severe exhaustion. Worse yet, they always seemed to catch her when she was leaving to go for her radiation. She had gotten into the habit of pretending not to hear their questions so that she would be able to make it to her appointments on time. Mary even had to leave ten to fifteen minutes earlier than she normally would have had to allow for their interrogations.

One day, though, the day following an even longer radiation therapy session than Mary was used to, she was extremely exhausted. As she tried to sleep, hoping to alleviate some of the slight pain she was experiencing and rejuvenate herself, everyone kept coming in and asking Mary why she couldn't stop sleeping. She was virtually unable to get any sort of rest. The grilling was unending and Mary needed her sleep. 

After thinking about it for as long as she could without being interrupted by someone, Mary finally figured out what she could do. Her health was the most important thing to her right now, and he did say any time. Mary got into her car, storming past anyone in her way, and drove to Wilson's apartment. She had never been there before, but she knew where it was. Not by instinct- he had given her directions in case she ever wanted to take him up on his many offers.

It was a little after six, and Wilson had just gotten home from picking up Billy from his mother's house after work. When the bell rang, he wondered who it could be. He went to the door and turned the knob, having a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was scared, or nervous, or excited. He didn't know what he was. He opened the door, though, and knew exactly what it was- butterflies in his stomach, for it was Mary who was calling upon him.

"Hi. You said I could come by if I want too, and my parents, and the radiation…" Mary was so tired that she didn't know what she was saying. Her exhaustion was hindering her from forming a complete and coherent sentence.

Wilson put his hand on Mary back and ushered her inside the door. He just stared at her for a little bit, allowing her time to gather her thoughts and counteract her impulse to ramble. "Now," he finally said, "What's wrong?"

"You now I had radiation yesterday, right?" Wilson nodded. "Because of that I am exhausted. I could even feel myself getting more tired when they were doing it to me. Only my parents and everyone else…they don't know that I have to rest. So the keep on asking me all of these questions, purposely trying to keep me from sleeping I think." Wilson said something that sounded like "that's awful," but Mary wasn't too sure. Not only was it hard for her to spit out information, but it was even hard for her to process it. "So, could I maybe use your couch? I just want to get a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep."

"Sure," Wilson said smiling sympathetically. Finally, he was getting an opportunity to help her out and he loved every second of it. This was the kind of thing that Wilson lived for. "But you don't have to sleep on the couch."

"I don't want to impose on you. You're being so kind to-"

"I insist. Here, you can sleep on the bed like a normal person. Unless you feel too weird, because in that case-" Mary shook her head while yawning loudly, making Wilson quiet. He took her into the bedroom, and turned down the covers while she propped herself up against the wall. She looked like someone who hadn't slept in about a week. 

Mary crawled into the bed, in the back of her mind hoping that Wilson wasn't getting anything out of her sleeping in his bed other than the joy of helping his very sick friend. Wilson stayed in there for a few seconds, watching her, and she soon fell asleep. He left shortly after that, and returned to the kitchen where he was going to fix dinner for himself and his son. He made some macaroni and cheese and a small salad that he knew Billy wouldn't eat. 

A half hour later, with no noise from the bedroom, dinner was served. Billy appeared from his bedroom to eat. At the table, he couldn't help but notice that his father was being very quiet and had his eyes fixated on the bedroom door. At close to eight years old, he was a very observant little boy. He had to be, since he was kept in the dark about pretty much everything.

"Dad, is someone in there?" he said pointing to his father's bedroom door.

"What would make you think that?" Wilson asked trying to play dumb. It didn't work.

"Because the door bell rang before and you keep looking at your door."

Wilson sighed. He didn't know what he should tell Billy. If he tried to explain about Mary, it would probably just confuse him and gets his hopes up over a nonexistent romance. But it wasn't right to flat out lie to him either. Decisions, decisions. "It's nothing for you to worry about son, all right?"

Billy shook his head at his father. "Fine, Dad."

Dinner eventually ended, Wilson cleared the table, did the dishes, helped Billy with his homework, waited for him to shower, put him to bed, and sat and watch the last ten minutes of a television program he wanted to see. It was 9:15 when Wilson went back into his bedroom and woke up Mary. She was still really out of it and exhausted, but at the mention of the time she rolled out of bed. Wilson could tell that she was nowhere near rested, and that she was probably even too tired to be driving herself home. The last thing he wanted to do was be responsible for her jeopardizing her own safety.

"Do you want me to drive you home? Do-do you want to spend the night? I could sleep on the couch. You're too tired to be driving yourself home."

Mary yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes. "No, I need to go home. They'll never leave me alone if I spend the night here."

Wilson smiled at Mary. He walked her out to her car, made sure that she would be OK by herself and that she could drive home, and walked back into his apartment. He got into bed himself, exhausted from the events of the day. He slept on the side of the bed that Mary had not occupied before, finding it too weird to lay on top of where she had just been less than an hour ago. As he drifted off to sleep, pleasant dreams awaited him. Mary was lying in bed next to him, and he was happy and in love. Sweet dreams.

A/N: I think this chapter had a little bit more action. Mary slept in Wilson's bed- now we're getting somewhere. ;) I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did. I went back an reread this chapter and fixed all the errors I could spot. I it wasn't as bad as I thought I might be, only about 5 or 6 things needed correcting.

Oh, and by the way, next chapter is going to be good. I don't know exactly where I am going to cut it, but there will be at least one confession, and possibly another…and a question. If I don't get to all of that in chapter 10, just more stuff for me to add to 11. Or maybe chapter 10 will just be really, really long.

I would appreciate a review or seven.


	10. The Easiest Solution

A few days after her nighttime escapade, Mary had an appointment with Dr. George. When she arrived and was taken into the office, he told her that he would like to run some tests. Mary immediately got scared, and asked if he thought something was wrong, but he told her that there was no reason to be alarmed. This was just a helpful precaution that would give them more insight as to what they were dealing with. That calmed Mary's nerves, but when a bunch of machines were brought in and about every test known to man was performed, she quickly got worried again. It was very possible that George knew more than he was letting on.

George did know more than he was telling, but not about her body or her condition. That was the purpose of these tests, to provide them with some answers. Mary had been undergoing treatment for quiet some time now, and he wanted to see if she was making any progress or improvement. From what he could tell, she had hit a plateau. It was a little early for her to hit a plateau in treatment, but all that could have meant was that they needed to go about this differently or try something else. He felt for her, though, and could understand her anxiety. No one liked tests, whether academic or medical. SAT's and cancer tests could be considered pretty comparable on the nervousness front. George said that when the results came in, he would call her if anything alarmed him even the slightest bit. He said that that would be in about two to four days, depending on how busy the lab was.

After everything was said and done Mary left for home. At the house, along with the questions Mary knew that they thought something was wrong with her- that she was under some sort of emotional stress. She was becoming increasing docile and always kept to herself. Annie and Lucy were the most disturbed by this, and started to make frequent efforts to reach out and comfort her. All they wanted was to know what was going on, or at the very least get a peak inside of Mary's obviously complex world. They also noticed that Mary was still making her nighttime phone calls from her car. Whoever she was talking to had to be someone special, and had to be a guy. 

Personally, Mary was getting pretty sick of it all. She just wanted to be normal. She didn't like being sick, or being looked upon with extreme sympathy by all the Camdens. What she really needed was a vacation; even a pseudo vacation. That was about the only thing she was sure of in her life. Everything else was a blur.

Three days later, when Mary was sitting in the kitchen with Lucy in the middle of the afternoon, her cell phone rang.  Mary answered it, and her heart began to race when she heard what they person said on the other end. 

"Can I speak with Mary Camden?" 

"This is she," Mary said, it not registering who it could be on the other end.

"I'm calling from Dr. West's office." 

Mary's head was spinning. First off, it wasn't George or Rosa, and that really frightened her. Second, she didn't know whether or not to make a big deal out of this or not. After all, Lucy was sitting two feet in front of her. In the end, she decided to step into the hallway that connected to kitchen to the foyer. "Yes?"

"Dr. West would like you to come to his office."

A lump formed in Mary's throat. "R-right now?"

"Yes."

"Is there something wrong?"

"I am sorry Miss, I don't have any of that information. I was just instructed to call you."

This woman was really starting to annoy Mary. What did she mean she had no information? "OK, I'll be there in ten minutes. Thank you." Mary turned off her phone and took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that everything would be all right. She walked back into the kitchen and out the back door, grabbing her purse from the counter.

"Mary? Is everything OK?" Lucy called out as she ran after her sister.

Mary turned toward Lucy and forced out a very weak smile. "Everything's fine. I have to go somewhere. And I might not be home for dinner. So if I'm not home by seven or something, don't wait up."

Mary got into her car, hands trembling as they turned the key in the ignition. Her mind wandered as she drove down the streets of GlenOak to the hospital, thinking about every conceivable thing that could be wrong with her. She knew that it had to be bad news, because George wouldn't have had her called down if everything was how it expected it to be. It had to be, well, unexpected- something surprising and alarming to a doctor. Maybe she was closer to death's door than she ever imagined, or even closer than he imagined.

As soon as Mary entered the office waiting room, she found the only one who would be doing any waiting today was George on her. He was waiting for her when she walked in. Her heart stopped, just for a second, and she couldn't move another step. The fear had paralyzed her beyond what she ever could have thought it would.

George approached her once he realized she wasn't planning on moving forward. "I didn't mean to scare you all that much. It's just that I didn't have any appointments now, and I thought it would be advantageous to you if we talked now rather than later." She nodded, still too freaked out to say anything.

Dr. George ushered her into the "discussion" room and flipped through Mary's chart as they both sat down. Mary attempted to cross her legs, but quickly uncrossed them due to a sharp pain. George noticed Mary's actions and smiled slightly. "Would you like an explanation for that?"

"That depends," she answered. "Am I going to like the explanation?"

George's tone turned serious very fast. "It seems that you have a pea sized tumor. Now, that might not seem very big, but keep in mind that your cervix isn't that big, either." Mary gulped hard. "It's only about the size of your pinky, or even half that." George held out his finger to show her. "And a pea, compared to that, is pretty big."

"So what are you going to do about that?"

"I want to do surgery, Friday afternoon, to remove it. Friday at 3:30 is the next available time in the OR, and this should be done as soon as possible. You'd have it done Friday, stay overnight, and then depending how you are you'll be released either Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon. Is that all right with you?"

"If that's how we have to do it," she told him, "then it's fine." She waited for a second as she sensed that Dr. George had something else he wanted to tell her regarding the tests. "That's not everything, is it?"

George shook his head. "No, it isn't. Your cancer's progressed despite the radiation we've been doing. It went from Stage I to Stage II. I'm sorry."

"Is that really bad or something?"

"Well…it did happen kind of quickly," he said sincerely. "What that means to you is that we'll have to be tougher with the treatments, that's all. You don't want it progressing too much, especially not at that rate. I'm not too sure what we're going to do just yet, though. I'll think about it, look into some other options for you. But right now, all we're going to focus on is the surgery. The rest of that will come after."

"What other options are there? Like chemo?"

"Possibly, but chemotherapy is severe- very severe for someone of your age. The area of the cancer…chemo can really mess things up for you, for your future. My first priority is to keep you healthy, but with radiation you still have a possibility, a good possibility, of being able to conceive a child. With chemo, that possibility diminishes to almost nothing. I don't want to have to do that to you if it's not necessary."

Mary could tell that George was very passionate about what his line of work. He wasn't speaking in complete sentences, not only to make things sound less serious than they actually were, but because his brain was moving faster than his mouth could spit out the words. He was a very knowledgeable and intelligent man. "So, am I still all right, or should I be really worried now?" Usually, Mary stayed pretty silent, but today she was asking a lot of questions, primarily because of her considerable concern.

He flashed Mary a smile. "You're still fine, but you're lucky we did the tests when we did- nip it in the bud so to speak." He shifted in his seat. "So, Friday at 3:30, I can take the timeslot then?" She nodded. "Good. And don't start getting worked up over this; this surgery isn't that big of a deal. But, if you start becoming stressed or something, or you have any questions, you know that you can call me. I'll be here for you if you need me."

Mary smiled widely as she stood up and slowly crept toward the door. George always made her brought Wilson to mind. Come to think of it, though, she was always thinking of Wilson. "Sometimes you and Wilson can be so alike you scare me."

"Why, what did I do?" he asked her.

"Nothing. It's just that Wilson tells me all the time that if I need him I can call him. It's sweet, on his part and yours. But then again, I bet you tell that to all your patients."

"Nope," he said as he walked her to the door, "just the ones I really, really like. Those special, one of a kind women who I can take home to meet Mom."

She laughed hardily. "Too late, I've already met your mother." She looked back at him then walked out the door, the intensity of what she would have to do prior to their next meeting hitting her full force. "See you Friday," she said with tears in her eyes, and left the office.

***

When Wilson stopped home that night to change out of his suit before picking up Billy at his mother's, he got a little more than he bargained for. In his quest for comfort, he became face to face with a situation that would forever change his life. For on his front steps, Mary sat waiting for him to come home. Her face was tear stricken, her eyes were closed, and she looked so lost and afraid. He walked up his steps and sat down next to her. She knew that he was there, but didn't acknowledge his presence for several minutes. After a little while, once she was good and ready, she turned to him and smiled.

"So?" he finally asked her.

"Help."

It was continually getting dark out, and Wilson wondered whether or not he should bring her inside before he started a conversation with her. Mary looked so flustered, though, that he was afraid to move her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing really. I mean, it's serious, but not that serious I guess. Maybe I am just overreacting to everything."

Wilson looked at Mary sympathetically. "Let me be the judge of that."

She sighed. She had waited for him in front of his apartment for hours with every intention of telling him what was going on, but now that she saw him it almost felt as if she was taking advantage of his kindness. He couldn't really help her all that much, except lend his ears. "George ran some tests a couple of days ago, and he got them back today and called me in. I have a huge tumor and I have to have surgery to remove it." The playfulness drained from Wilson's face immediately. "The surgery itself isn't that big of a deal, or so your brother tells me, but the bad part is I have to stay overnight. How am I going to be able to stay out all night?"

Wilson genuinely pondered her question. "What would happen if you stayed out all night?"

"My parents- the whole family would flip out. They already think something is wrong, and then if I just don't come home one night they will really start asking questions."

"Mary," Wilson said almost mockingly, "you're twenty two. Why can't you stay out all night?"

"Matt stayed out all night when he got engaged to Sarah and they still bring it up at least once a week."

"Oh." For the most part, Wilson understood about Mary's parents. Granted, she could easily solve everything by just telling her family that she has cancer, but since she won't he can see how she would have a legitimate problem on her hands. Still, he figured it was worth another try to convince her into coming clean. "Are you sure you just don't want to tell them? Get everything out in the open?"

A single tear rolled down Mary's cheek. "I can't. I'm not strong enough to tell them and they aren't strong enough to deal with it." Mary closed her eyes as the sadness and stress shook her. Everything was getting so difficult and she didn't know how long she could keep it up for. 

"You know," Wilson said quietly, "you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, and your family probably is, too."

Mary turned her body fully to face him. "You don't get it. You don't understand." Her words came out angry, but Wilson knew what was happening. Things were coming to a head. Mary was frustrated, tired, and more stressed than she ever should be. She turned her body so that she was facing the street and away from him, and she started to cry her eyes out once more. She didn't have any more energy to be strong, and it felt so wrong to cry in front of him. However, Mary felt no shame in doing it. 

Wilson could feel her pain and it was hurting him probably not even half of what it was doing to her, but it was enough. As he let himself emotionally reach out to her, for the first time he allowed himself to physically reach out to her as well. A small step for Wilson, but a giant leap in the right direction. He wrapped his arm around Mary's shoulders and pulled her into him. She leaned her head against him and continued to sob, making Wilson feel better and worse at the same time.

As Mary continued letting out her pent up emotions, Wilson's mind mulled over Mary's situation. There certainly was no easy answer, but he felt that with time he could probably come up with something to help her. He had to; he was the only person she was allowing to get close enough to help her. If he didn't figure out something, all hope could be lost.

After what seemed like an eternity for Mary, she wiped her eyes and pulled herself away from Wilson's reassuring grasp. She looked him in the eyes and he stared back at her; they were both sad. Mary smiled nervously, wanting to break free from the "damsel in distress" image Wilson must have had of her at that moment.

"Look," he said to her, "I'll think about your situation. I'm going to try really hard to come up with something, OK?"

She sniveled. "All right. Thanks Wilson- thanks for listening and thanks for just being here for me. You really are a big help."

"Glad to be of service," he said with a smile. "Speaking of which, when is your surgery on Friday?" Mary told him 3:30. "Are you going to go all by yourself?" She nodded. "That's no fun. I'll see if I can get off work early and I'll go with you, just so you don't have to be alone."

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"I insist. God forbid something happens to you, or you get lonely, or bored, or anything. I want to be there for you."

Mary truthfully smiled for the first time since she left George's office over three hours ago. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, or your sympathy, but thanks. I owe you." Also, she noticed that Wilson knew she didn't like being, or feeling, alone. It made her feel good to know that he paid attention to her when she spoke; he even listened when she wasn't saying anything at all.

"The only thing you owe me is a few more smiles every now and then."

She grinned purposefully, showing off as much of her pearly whites as she possibly could. "I think I can do that."

***

Early the next morning, around 9:30, Mary's cell phone rang. It wasn't really all that early, but it was early enough for Mary who was still sleeping. She absolutely hated when people interrupted her sleep.

"Hello?" she said angrily and groggily.

"I have a solution to you problem." Mary knew that it was Wilson. She would have said his name aloud, but she was at home. If anyone heard her say his name, she would be done for. "I can't talk now because I am at work, but can you meet me at the promenade at noon?"

"What time is it now?" she asked leaning her head against her pillow once more.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you up. It's 9:30. Can you meet me?"

"OK, great. Go back to sleep. Bye."

Wilson hung up his phone and Mary did the same with her. She rolled over in her bed and pulled her comforter up to her ears as she rolled onto her side. After the conversation finally registered in her mind, she smiled. Mary knew that, no matter what, she could always count on Wilson. He was undoubtedly a very good friend to have. 

As she drifted back off to sleep, Mary thought about him. Everything about him was so great. The way he helped her, his smile, his eyes, and the way he smelled. She sighed happily, and a few seconds later her eyes sprang open. What was she doing? She had promised herself when they began spending time together that she wouldn't let this relationship progress anywhere beyond friends. Now she was having feelings that she kept telling herself she wasn't allowed to have.

While Mary reprimanded herself, she thought over what would happen if she really were falling for him all over again. What was the worst that could happen? But she couldn't be, because she knew that he definitely wasn't, and she couldn't possibly open herself up right now to that kind of rejection. It was too painful to even think about.

Mary pulled herself out of bed at 11:00, took a shower and got ready to meet Wilson for noon at the promenade. She felt honored that he was meeting her on his lunch break. She pulled into the parking lot at five to twelve, and knowing that Wilson is always early, got out of the car to look for him. Sure enough, she found him wondering around waiting for her. He smiled when he saw her, and she smiled back at him on instinct. They hugged hello, like they often did, but this time the hug lingered longer than it usually did. It seemed as if neither one of them wanted to let go. 

"So," she said once they reluctantly pulled away, "what is this plan you have for me?"

"Well, the only way that you're going to be able to stay out all night is if you're not living under their roof, right? That way, no one will know."

Mary sighed disappointedly. "I thought of that, but I don't have the money to move out. I'm making next to nothing."

"Not to be rude, but I figured that. So, there's another step to that plan." He paused for a second, and Mary wondered why that was. Grudgingly, he began to speak again. "You can move in with me."

Mary laughed loudly, so loudly in fact that people nearby stared at her. "You're crazy!"

"Why? I don't see anything crazy about it. You need a place to stay, you don't really have any money, and I know that you don't like being alone. The only thing I would ask from you is money for the food you eat. Everything else I'll take care of."

Mary cocked her head. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Very serious. I don't know what else you can do." He smiled at her. "Besides, I think it might be fun." His smile melted away any apprehension she might have had. "So, what do you say?"

"Are you absolutely sure?" she asked. "Because if you aren't, I'm sure I could come up with something else. I don't want to do this if you don't want me to."

"I want you to," he said slowly.

"Then I say…OK," she responded enthusiastically. She realized that this would only magnify any problems she was having just being Wilson's friend, but it also made her think that she wasn't alone in her troubles. Maybe he was battling the same demons.

"Great. Today's Wednesday, so you can move in today, or tomorrow, or even Friday; it's up to you. If you come by tonight, I'll give you a key and so you could move in while I'm at work if you wanted to."

Mary had a lot of questions, but didn't ask any of them right now. There was no reason to spoil her fairytale moment. "Sounds fine to me. And thank you Wilson. I…I…I…" Mary stammered for a way to finish her sentence but found none.

Wilson laughed at her floundering. "You're welcome. I've got to get back to work, though, so I'll see you later."

Mary shook her head, reality coming back into focus. She slipped off for a second in a reverie about what her and Wilson living together would be like. "OK. Bye Wilson, and thanks again."

***

Thursday, Mary arrived back home from work and entered the kitchen. Annie smiled when she saw her daughter. She hadn't been able to catch up with Mary for a few days now; either Mary was sleeping, working, or mysteriously sneaking out of the house. Annie decided now was the time to say something to Mary about not seeing her anymore.

"You know," she started, "I'm really glad you're living here Mary, but I still don't think I see enough of you. You're life is still so…mysterious to me. You're my baby and I feel left out of your life, and I think everyone does, too. If you weren't living in this house, we wouldn't ever see you at all."

"Speaking of living in this house…" Mary said to her mother with a disconcerting expression on her face.

"Oh, Mary," Annie said, instantaneously figuring out what her daughter was going to say to her.

"I'm moving out. I love you all, and I'm very grateful that you still let me come back home if I want to, but I need to be out on my own again. Don't worry; I'm staying in GlenOak, just not in this house."

Annie hugged Mary tightly. Once again, Mary was slipping out of her fingers. Ever since Mary wrecked the school gym back in her senior year of high school, she couldn't get a good grasp on Mary. Every time she reached out for her, it seemed that she took off unexpectedly. Tears welled up in Annie's eyes as she held Mary, but she refused to let them fall. Her emotions were not allowed to get the best of her now. 

"Is that OK?"

"If that's what you really want to do, then it's fine with me. But promise me that you won't just fade into oblivion; you'll still come around here every so often?"

Now tears welled up in Mary's eyes. "I promise." If only her parent's knew who she was moving in with, how she ran into him again, why they had gotten so close, and everything else that was going on in her life right now. It would blow their minds. Who knew that cancer, a malfunction on the cellular level, could mold and transform everything in her life so much? Her parents did, and that was one of the reasons she was so afraid to tell them. Revenge may be ugly, but fear is dreadful. Excitement, however, is much better. So is anticipation.

A/N: Yeah, I know I promised a "confession", but this was already 8 pages in Word, so I figured I better stop before I _completely_ loose your interest. You will all just have to wait until next chapter, which I promise will be much better plot-wise than this one.  A lot of stuff happened in this chapter, mostly because this is about 4 times longer than my average chapter size. I don't necessarily like it, especially the last paragraph, but I had to set all of this up so that the rest of the story would work. 

Please review to congratulate me on **_TEN_** whole chapters of Mary and Wilson just being friends. I didn't think it was possible. WOO HOO!


	11. Life Is Good When You're Around

Friday afternoon, a tad past 3:30, Mary was getting ready for her surgery to remove her tumor in her cervix. She was nervous, frightened, and had just been pride away from Wilson, which certainly did not help in the matter. He knew that she was scared and was trying to help her work through it when they came for her. 

A nurse took Mary away and brought her to the place where she was to change into her hospital gown. Then, she was told to sit and wait for George, because he had something else to finish up. And wait she did. Nearly twenty minutes passed before he came in, and by that time Mary was a nervous wreck. 

"Sorry," he apologized as soon as he entered, "I had to finish up something with a new patient."

"Is she more important than me?" Mary teased him.

"At the moment she was, but not anymore. Now you have my undivided attention."

"Well, I would hope so, seeing as how you're going to be operating on me."

George walked toward her after he finished writing something down pertaining to Mary. "Are you all right? You seem a little off."

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Besides, if anything is bothering me right now, it's not medical."

"OK," he answered her, "whatever that is supposed to mean. Now, question: did you come here alone? Is someone staying with you?"

"Answer: No and yes. Your brother is in some waiting room as we speak."

"Wilson brought you?" She nodded, and George glanced down at his watch. "Doesn't he work anymore?

"They let him off early to bring me," she said proudly.

"Why would they do that?" George asked seriously.

Mary rolled her eyes at him. "Are we going to do this or not?"

"Fine, fine. I'll send the nurse in to start to put you under. The next time I see you will be in the operating room, and if all goes well you won't be seeing me." George picked up Mary's chart and walked out of the room, but then quickly reentered. "I almost forgot my reassuring speech. Don't worry. This is practically routine procedure. I do these kinds of things all the time." Mary flashed him a smile, signaling that he had done his job, and George left the room for good this time.

A few moments later, a female nurse came in and told Mary about how she was going to be "put under", as Dr. George had put it earlier. First, they were giving her some drug before she was actually conked out- a shot in her hip region. Then she would be wheeled into the operating room on the bed she was sitting on and the rest would be finished off there moments before the surgery began.

The shot hurt a little bit, mostly because it was so close to the bone and she was so thin. The nurse instructed her to lie down, so she did. She felt fine at first, but then started to get a little groggy. Everything started looking a little blurry, and a general feeling of happiness and ease came over her. Not to the nurse's surprise, Mary started blabbing around that time and wouldn't shut up.

As Mary was pushed down the long corridor in the bed, she started asking for George. Things were definitely starting to get weird, or interesting depending upon how one chose to perceive things. She cried out for him, nearly shouting at the top of her lungs. Thankfully for the nurse who was already getting sick of putting up with Mary, George heard her and came over. He told the nurse that he could handle it and she left, leaving Mary and George alone in the hallway.

"George," she said, talking louder than her normal volume, "I have a secret to tell you. Promise me you won't tell anyone though. Promise?"

He couldn't help but giggle. "I promise Mary."

"Good. You know Wilson, right?"

"Yes, I do. He's my brother."

Mary hit herself in the head. "I knew that." George had to bite his tongue to refrain from cracking up. All that was relatively normal, but no other patient had ever talked to him as much as she was. Then again, he and Mary did have a special relationship. "Anyway, like I was saying, my secret is that I'm in love with him."

George stopped pushing Mary and looked down at her curiously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I am sure. But don't you dare tell him. It's a secret."

"I don't know if I can promise you that," he told her honestly, although he was sure she would never even remember this conversation, very vaguely at best.

"That's OK," she told him, reaching up to pat his arm. "You're still a good doctor."

He rolled her into the operating room, eager to start the surgery and, although quite intrigued by the fascinating information she gave him, eager to make her quiet and demure once again. A few minutes later, Mary went into a state of false sleep and the surgery began.

***

Thirty minutes later, the surgery was over. Mary was moved into a hospital room that she would be spending the rest of the night in. Someone went to get Wilson in the waiting room, and with a little coaxing he was allowed to sit in with her. When he walked in and saw her, Wilson was captivated by her beauty. Her whole presence took his breath away, and there was no way that he could deny that.

Wilson took the chair next to Mary's bed and pulled it closer to her. He sat down and took her hand in his, so that when she woke up she wouldn't have to wonder about where he was or be scared for a second.

A little while later, Mary awoke. Her eyes fluttered open and when she saw Wilson she smiled. He squeezed her hand, and he squeezed back.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm OK. A little bit of pain but not too bad." He nodded. She closed her eyes again, feeling warn out from the surgery and everything else that was going on. She still held his hand, though, refusing to let go. She thought that if she let go, he might leave her, and that was the last thing she wanted right now. 

She must have closed her eyes for longer than she realized, though, because the next thing she heard was George's voice. It sounded far away, but that was because he was whispering to Wilson from the hallway. Wilson let go of Mary's hand, thinking that she was asleep, but Mary reached for him again. 

"Where are you going?" she mumbled, slightly surprised by her own temerity.

He picked up her hand again and gave it a good squeeze. "Just out in the hallway to talk with George for a second. I'll be right back, don't worry."

Mary nodded then fell back to sleep before Wilson even got out of the room. He closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake her and not wanting her to listen in on their conversation. Whatever it was that he needed to tell Wilson, it seemed serious.

"What's up?"

"I'm going to tell you something that I probably shouldn't be telling you, but I hate to see you two like this. Think of it as me being a good big brother and a good friend."

Wilson made the strangest face and looked at George like he was insane. "OK…"

George sighed, looked toward the door of Mary's room, then back at Wilson. "When we do surgery, we give the patients this…pre-painkiller thing. The effect it has on some people though, it's kind of like laughing gas at the dentist's office. They can get kind of talkative and a little crazy. But what Mary told me, judging by what I've seen, probably was very, very sane."

Wilson shook his head. "You took me away from her for this? She doesn't like to be alone George; I don't want to leave her for no reason."

George sighed. "There is a reason. She told me that she's in love with you."

Wilson's face went blank. A few moments later, he smiled, but quickly wiped it off so George wouldn't say anything. "Are you sure that's what she said?" he asked seriously.

"I'm sure." George patted his brother's arm. "Now, why don't you go back in there and tell her that you love her, too?" Wilson looked defensive, but George scoffed. "Don't try and tell me you don't love her. I have seen you with her, you two dated before- you go in there and talk with her. From what I hear you're a big talker."

Wilson thanked his brother profusely and then walked back into the room. Mary's eyes opened up a little bit and she smiled. He sat back down and offered her hand. She gladly accepted. Wilson brushed a few loose strands of hair out off of Mary's face, and then lightly laid his palm on her cheek, making his first move. It felt so nice to touch her again. "How are you doing?" he asked her softly.

"I'm fine, especially now that you're back." Mary wasn't stupid. She felt his hand on her cheek, and now she was attempting making her move. Her "range of motion" was a little more limited than his, seeing as though she had just had surgery less than an hour ago, but she was not opposed to trying. 

"Look," Wilson finally said, "could I talk with you for a little bit?"

Mary opened her eyes fully and repositioned her head. "Go ahead. I have all night."

Wilson beamed down at her. He really did love her. That was why, subconsciously, he invited her to move in with him, and why he felt so compelled to look out for her. Their bond was much greater than any friendship could have ever been. It was love and they both could feel it pulsating throughout, even more so at that moment. "There's just something that I want to tell you- I need to tell you," he told her, stalling.

Mary smiled, anticipating, hopefully correctly, the air of his next statement. "OK."

Wilson stroked her thumb over the back of her hand and smiled to himself before looking up at her. He sensed that she knew what he wanted to say, and since they were no protesting or apprehension, he didn't feel all that scared anymore. "I'm in love with you Mary," he said calmly.

She sat up, still feeling very weak, but drawing strength from her emotions, and looked deep into his eyes. This was what she wanted. "I love you, too."

Wilson leaned in and wrapped his arms around Mary, holding her body close to her while trying to avoid causing her any added pain. To the outsider, this would have looked like just an average hug, but they both knew it was much more. Wilson was not hugging Mary; he was holding her, trying to take away all of the physical and emotional pain she had been feeling since he ran into her again and make her feel better overall. It worked, too. Mary instantaneously felt better and whole again, and Wilson was just as happy as she was.

George looked in on the two of them through the little window in the door. Luckily, they didn't notice him. He smiled as they embraced one another; his good deed for the day was completed.

***

Mary and Wilson spent the rest of the night, at least the time that Mary wasn't resting, making out and just being together knowing that they were now officially romantically involved. They were right, the truth does set you free, and keeping their love from each other was tearing them both apart. Now that everything was out in the open, their souls were definitely liberated.

When a nurse came in to check on Mary the following morning, she found Wilson and Mary in the hospital bed together, lying silently in each other's arms. They looked so peaceful that she dared not to wake them. George, however, was not that kind. When he made his rounds and went to see Mary, he shook the young lover's awake. 

"Sorry to bother you, but I have to make sure the young lady is OK."

Mary snuggled into Wilson and looked up at George. "Hi George."

"So, how are we doing?"

"_We_ are doing very well, and I am fine."

He rolled her eyes. "Good. Do I have to check you, or do you think you're OK?"

"Please don't check me," she said to him, not really being in the mod to be poked and prodded with some metal or plastic rod. The thought of that, at that moment, sincerely disgusted her. The only thing she wanted even remotely that close to her was Wilson. Usually, she wasn't that open with men, but Wilson was Wilson- he was in a category all his own.

***

"You know, us being in love and all," Mary said candidly, "and living together isn't going to work for me."

"OK, so what do you want to do? Do you want to not move in with me? It's still your choice you know."

Mary looked down at her hands, extremely nervous, but smiled anyway. "I think we should…get married. Elope. Right now." Reluctantly, she looked up and over at him.

Wilson laughed once loudly. "Really?"

"I know it might sound rash, but I think it's right. I've been thinking about it for hours and I really want to. So…what do you say?"

Wilson picked up Mary's hand. "Why, Mary Camden, are you proposing to me?" She giggled, and then leaned in and kissed him. This was right, more right than anything else in her life right now. "If that was a yes…then I say let's do it. I would love to be married to you Mary." In response to that, she kissed him. 

Mary and Wilson both let this good feeing wash over them. Mary felt better about herself at that moment than she had in months. They were both so happy that they couldn't even imagine anything going wrong. Mary's illness and everything was the farthest thing from both of their minds. They had feelings for each other that they had never had before, and they were basking in the sensation. Life was good when they are together.

A/N: This chapter was OK. That was your confession; they are in love. Woo hoo, nothing I haven't explored before. I always enjoyed writing them being married, and I have a whole bunch of good ideas, so I don't think you'll be dissapointed in the future. And for all of you who wanted Mary and Wilson together, there you go. ;)

You wanted them together, right? Love is always good. No show me some by reviewing.


	12. Nothing Wacky About It

George came in to Mary's hospital room a few hours later, as it was no early afternoon and he figured she should be well ready to get home. When he entered, he was surprised to see Wilson still in there with her. Surely, he would have gone home by now. The couple, yes- couple, looked at him with smirks on their faces. They were definitely up to something, and from what he knew about his brother and what he was learning about Mary, it probably wasn't anything good. "What's going on?" he asked, not really wishing to know the answer.

"Um…" Wilson said, stalling as he looked at Mary out of the corner of his eyes. She nodded to him, and he began to finish his sentence. "Would you want to go with us to get married?"

George looked at Mary, who smiled widely at him, then at Wilson who did the same. Were they insane? Married? This was all his fault. After all, he did push them together. "You're getting married?"

"Yup," Mary said. "Eloping actually. And, since I am assuming you came in to bust me out of here, we were wondering if you would want to come with- drive us actually. I know this little place…"

George rolled his eyes at her. "Now hold on one second. Are you two nuts?" They didn't answer him. "No," he continued, "you're in love. Which is something the same thing as far as I am concerned. Are you sure this is what you want?" They both nodded their heads vigorously as they looked passionately into each other's eyes. They were making him sick. "Exactly what went on in here last night?"

Wilson shook his head. "Nothing. We just were together- we talked a lot. Besides, Mary was moving in with me anyway, so this seems like a good step, don't you think?"

"No, but if this is what you want I'll go. Put some excitement into my life. Besides, if you two are going to screw up your lives, I might as well be there."

"We're not screwing up our lives," Wilson said.

"But thank you," Mary interjected. "It really means a lot to me."

George sighed heavily. "I'll go sign you out, then clock myself out, and then I guess we can go. But, if you two change your minds-"

"We're not going to change our minds," Mary reminded him. "I really do love him. I have for a very long time."

"Whatever," George mumbled as he walked out of the room. He knew that they were crazy, but he didn't know that they were this insane. Who does this sort of thing? They just got back together less than 24 hours ago, and now they were getting married. If that's not insane, George thought, then I don't know what is.

***

Two hours after George had initially entered Mary's hospital room, the three of them entered a small little chapel located on the outskirts of GlenOak. Most people would have easily considered the place the next town over. There was a reason they decided to go there. Besides the fact that it was the only place they could think of to get married without crying to Mary's father, it was pretty far away. No one would see them and report back to…well, anyone. At the moment, neither party wanted anyone to know. Hence the eloping- very secretive.

That considered, George should have felt honored that they asked him to be a part of the goings on. However, he felt nothing of the sort. In his eyes, this was very, very wrong, and all his fault. The only thing on his mind was that he messed up these poor young people's lives. From his wise perspective of age thirty, he could see that they were clearly making a mistake.

Apparently, George didn't know Mary and Wilson as he thought he did. Not only were they more in love than he ever could have imagined, but they were both determined to make this marriage work. Both of them had screwed up their relationship and their lives enough to have far more drive than they needed to accomplish that goal.

The wedding chapel was quaint and quiet; just had Mary and Wilson had expected it to be. It being 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the establishment was fully staffed, too, with all seven employees present. The owner, a nice but sleazy looking man, greeted the threesome at the door when they walked inside, grinning widely at the prospect of new customers. Wilson explained their intentions, and the man directed them to a counter with brochures and packages for them to choose from.

Mary sat around for a while as Wilson got everything settled for them. George told her that technically she was still on "bed rest" terms, so she shouldn't be moving or standing any more than was absolutely necessary. Wilson deemed walking down the aisle necessary, and everything else she was left out of. At first she minded, but then she really didn't care. She liked it when people did things for her, more specifically when Wilson did things for her. And on another level, it was nice to think of him planning there wedding.

She used the extra time to reflect on what she was about to do. Even after the twenty-five minutes of thought she gave to it, this didn't seem like a bad idea. She couldn't really understand why George was so wigged out about it; he wasn't the one who was getting married. She began to think of her future with Wilson- watching Billy grow up, hopefully being able to have children with him, growing old together, enjoying life and everything it had to offer. All of those things were what Mary had wanted for years now, since she and Wilson got back together when she moved out to Buffalo. Finally, after all these years, she was about to achieve her dream.

When everything was completed, the two men walked back over to where Mary was sitting. Mary took a deep breath as she stood up next to Wilson. It was time for the nuptials. Mary was starting to get nervous at this point. It was by no means cold feet, she kept telling herself, but her anxiety was getting to her a little bit. All she really wanted to do was get it over with before she was too sacred to go through with it.

She didn't have too long for her nervousness to eat away at her, though, because less than ten minutes later, the wedding march played throughout the small room on a badly tuned organ. Mary walked down the aisle, plainclothes, with George on her arm. They eventually reached Wilson, and Mary had to use all her strength to not reach out and kiss Wilson right then. She was so excited to be going through with this.

The couple looked into each other's eyes and got lost in them. They could have stood up there forever. However, the middle-aged man who was performing the ceremony was a tad bit more eager to get the show on the road.

"Wilson," he said reading his name off of a card, "do you take Mary to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Mary, do you take Wilson t be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes. "I do."

"Wonderful. Wilson, repeat after me." The man began his schpeel, Wilson repeating after every sentence or so. 

"I, Wilson West, take Mary Camden to be my wife. To have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

"I, Mary Camden, take Wilson West to be my husband. To have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

The rings were slipped on, purchased at the chapel for the occasion, and the hard part was over. The stone-faced man that stood before them actually cracked a smile. "By the power invested by me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife." He turned to Wilson and raised his eyebrows twice, indicating something Wilson translated to be derogatory. No wonder people never traveled to this side of town. "You may now kiss the bride."

Mary and Wilson practically jumped onto each other; the passion at that moment was just so great. After their long, sensual kiss was completed, they walked down the aisle hand in hand and the ceremony was completed. They were then officially married- this was the happiest day of both of their lives to date. Even George appeared to have warmed up to the idea after seeing that they truthfully had the courage to go through with it. This might not have been a bad idea after all. This was the first one of Mary's "wacky plans" that actually turned out right.

When the ceremony itself was over, the triplet reentered George's sedan and he proceeded to drive the newlyweds back to Wilson's apartment- Mary and Wilson sitting peacefully in the back seat as George drove in the front by himself. Once they got in the car, Mary started to get very tired again, as George had predicted. He warned them that this would be too much for her, but they failed to listen. She leaned against Wilson as George drove, her spine running down Wilson's right obloquies and the back of her head resting gently on the corner of his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her loosely by the neck and his hand falling tenderly on her collarbone. As she closed her eyes, she reached both of her hands up and held onto Wilson's forearm as if it were a chin-up bar, snuggling into his body. She fell asleep against him less than a third of the way into their over twenty minute trip back home.

They finally arrived and George looked back in the rearview mirror at the lovebirds. He smiled once again, almost laughing at the fact that Mary had fallen asleep on top of his brother. He opened his door, got out of the car, and then opened Wilson's door to assist him on getting Mary out of the car. She remained asleep, Wilson carrying her, until the reached the stairs in front of the door. He jostled her too much and her eyes quickly opened.

"Wha-" she started to speak, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Shh," he said to quiet her. "I'm just attempting to carry my bride over the threshold. Go back to sleep sweetheart." Wilson leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose before continuing to carry her inside. He placed her on the bed and then walked out of the room to thank his brother and to see him out.

George told Wilson how happy he was for him- for the both of them really, since he could now see that they were truly and passionately in love with one another. Wilson thanked George once again for his helpfulness, and went to close the door. "Wilson, one more thing," George interjected between the rapidly closing front door. The door stopped, reopened all the way, and he continued. "You and Mary…you weren't thinking of…" George made a hand gesture, referencing to a typical wedding night activity. 

Wilson shook his head at his brother. "First off, I'm not an idiot. Secondly, she's passed out on the bed."

"I know," he said, "but from a medical standpoint I should advise you, as I would anyone else, to wait a little bit. She just had surgery, and I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for 'disturbing things.' You have the potential to really hurt her, physically as well as emotionally over that." Wilson's face greeted George's with a blank stare. "Just give that some thought, all right?" Wilson nodded mindlessly and said goodnight to him, shutting the door fully this time.

He leaned against the closed entrance after flipping the deadbolt for the night. Nothing like that, or even about that, had crossed Wilson's mind before. George was right though; he could see how he had the potential to cause her a lot of pain. That was the last thing he wanted. He was lucky that Mary was asleep, he deduced, knowing her all too well. If she was awake, there would definitely be some pressure, and that was the last thing he needed. What would have been a hard task would become almost impossible with her coercive and sweet behavior. Wilson heard a light snore come from the bedroom and smiled to himself. He snapped back into reality and went toward the bedroom to get some much-needed rest; thank God for little miracles, as well as the big ones.

A/N: So, what do you think? I thought it was pretty OK. Not amazing, but not as bad as I thought it was going to turn out. I know that this is a little on the short side, but this is just where the chapter ended. Wrapped up a one plot line, created a new conflict- what more does a chapter really need? And, a little sneak peak, that conflict at the end will, eventually, lead to the raising of the rating of this story from PG to PG-13. I hope none of you have a problem with that.

And for all of you who commented about Mary telling her family…::smirks::. Some of the ending chapters will be very interesting to you.

Oh, and no, I am not finished with this yet. Far from it actually. The story has just begun.

Reviews are like chocolate. You can never have too much.


	13. Love Is Powerful

Two weeks after their marriage, Mary and Wilson were almost completely settled into married life. Things were falling perfectly into place for both of them and it was all working out just fine. They both had to make some scarifies, though. It was not all fun and games. With impulsive decisions there was always a price.

Wilson didn't want Billy to be living with him and Mary while she was sick. He didn't think that it was right, or fair to him, to have to deal with that. He didn't want to have to explain to his son that after not having a mother for all of his life, Mary was sick. It was easier on both of them to leave Billy out of all of that.

Billy lived with Wilson's mother, who had even offered before Wilson asked to take Billy in with her. The relationship between Wilson's parents had progressively gotten worse, and Mrs. West had moved out. She rented a condo in another section of town, closer to Wilson and farther away from her husband. She had plenty of room and time for Billy now, and she wanted him with her to keep her company.

Mary's life outside of marriage wasn't the easiest thing either. Mary's forfeiture was contact with her family. They had her cell phone number and that was all. She hadn't seen them since she moved out the Thursday before her surgery, and she hadn't really talked to them since them. If she told them she got married, she would have to tell them that she had cancer, and she still couldn't do that. Even if she could figure out a way to tell them that she was married and nothing else, there would be too many lies involved, and that wouldn't be right either. Mary was a big fan of lying by omission, not by looking people in the eye and making things up blindly.

***

Mary had lived with Wilson for two weeks, but all of her things were still not moved in. A good majority of her things were still at her parents home. As the days wore on, however, she saw that she really needed some of those things. It was mostly clothing, but she still would like to have it. After all, she did pay for most of it. With the limited communication that Mary had with her family, she found out that everyone was traveling to Phoenix to visit Grandpa Charles, instead of just having Annie go alone like she had been doing. And, after talking to Lucy, Mary learned that particular Saturday morning that the family would be away, Kevin had to work and Lucy was meeting with one of her study groups at the campus library. It was the perfect time for Mary to go back and get what she left behind.

She told the idea to Wilson Saturday morning, and he gladly accepted. From a closet, he pulled out a three-gallon plastic bin that Mary could put whatever she wanted in, and they headed out the door. He questioned her a little bit, asking why she felt it was so important to make sure no one would be there before she took him home with her, but she didn't really give him a clear answer. She was very skilled at shrugging him off without Wilson really realizing it. She'd been like with everyone, not just him, for her whole life.

The couple pulled up to the house at the precise time Mary had calculated so that no one would see them. If they arrived too early or too late, someone would inevitable be home. There was _always_ someone home. Just to be safe, though, when they arrived she ran into the garage apartment, calling out for Lucy or Kevin. With no sign of either of them, Mary tugged Wilson into the kitchen through the back door. There, she repeated screaming out for members of her family, only this time with different names. To Mary's wonderment, there actually was no one home.

She gladly transferred her excitement to Wilson, spinning around to face him and kissing him passionately. When they pulled away, they both smiled. Mary squealed giddily and turned towards the stairs, but Wilson grabbed her by her arm to stop her.

"You realize that you're crazy, don't you?"

"Very nice," she commented, still not able to wipe the smile off her face. "Tell you wife that she's crazy." He smiled at her. "Just remember," she said trying to be as serious as possible, "I'm going to control your heavy lifting in the next half hour or so."

"Touché," he said and grabbed her hand.

They walked up the back stairs, into the upstairs hallway, and then up the stairs to the attic bedroom. Once they went inside, Mary paused and looked around at everything. It had only been two weeks, but it felt like an eternity since she moved out. The room ha different meaning now, though, because when she left she assumed that she could always come back. That was why she left so much stuff behind, to trick her mind as well as her mother's into thinking that she would be returning one day soon. Since she was married, it hit her hard as she stood there that she'd never be here permanently. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Wilson lingered by the doorframe as he watched Mary survey the room. He could see her wheels turning from feet away, and he couldn't help but wonder what was going through her head. She sure was acting odd. Before he had a chance to ask her, though, she turned back around to him with tears in her eyes. Uh-oh.

He entered the room and went over to Mary, wrapping his hands around her waist and drawing her into him. She allowed him to be close to her for just a little while before wriggling away from him. She wiped her eyes as they darted around the room, waiting for the tears to pass, and then looked back in his direction. She instructed him to take out all of the cold weather apparel off the rack closest to the bathroom and put it into the bin while she got things from the room itself. 

Wilson stared at her quizzically and then walked away, leaving her almost alone in the bedroom. She went around, picking up random things that she thought she might want to have, and purposely leaving some things so that she would be a part of this room forever. She liked the idea of that- that her things would survive there even when she didn't. 

Approximately ten minutes later, just as Wilson was finishing up with the clothing, Mary walked over to him. She looked into the bin and picked out about three shirts and put them back into the "closet." "Those are Ruthie's," she explained. Mary put her knickknacks into the bin and told Wilson she was finished. Again, he looked at her questioningly, but lifted the bin and went down the stairs and out to the car anyway.

The two filed in and Mary put her hand on Wilson's knee just before he started up the car. For a third time he looked at her, still not sure what was going on. "You confuse me," he said veraciously. He didn't see it fit to beat around the bush with her, as it usually got him nowhere. "I don't understand how you can be so happy one minute and so sad the next. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, it's just this house…the whole atmosphere here reminds me of everything. Everything I am giving up. I know what you are going to say, 'you can always tell them everything,' but I can't. And I know that you don't understand that, and honestly I don't know how to explain it to you. Everyone's mind works differently." She paused for a second as he processed her words. "To some extent I miss them and the whole experience of being in that house, but then again I don't. I wouldn't trade my life with you, my new life, for anything."

"Your family and I are not mutually exclusive you know."

Tears welled up in her eyes. She hated when he made her get all mushy. "I know, but for now, unless I can come up with a better plan that I don't think exists, it has to be that way." 

Wilson sighed as he turned the key in the ignition. She had been this way since they got married- happy, but not truly happy. He hated to see her like that, especially since he knew that he was a good part of the problem. He didn't want to be the thing that was holding Mary back from being happy, but there was just no getting through to her. She kept pushing him away when it came to that, and drawing him close when she just couldn't take it anymore.

He thought about Mary all the way home. Were they just a bunch of crazy lovers in over their heads, or could there relationship really weather this storm that was blowing through? Was it passing, or would it be socked in for a while? Wilson's head was spinning, and so was Mary's. Individually, they were strong, but together they were unsure. However, their love was not unrequited, and that in itself could get them through many a day and many a problem. Love is powerful, and love can move mountains.

A/N: I hate this chapter. I really, really do. I know I usually say that I don't like the chapters I put out, but this is just awful. Not awfully written, but the concept if bad. I have problems with moving the plot- I admit it. They need "Plot Stallers Anonymous" or something. I would join it; I think I need it.

Even though I don't like it, maybe you do. But I'll never know unless you review!  


	14. Lying By Omission

A/N: The lawyer in this chapter is mine, even though he is unnamed as of now.

After a Sunday of perpetual slumber for Mary, Monday came all too quickly. She forced herself to wake up early, still groggy but determined to say goodbye to Wilson. She preferred waking up to him being there to waking up alone any day. As Wilson went to leave, he smiled down at her, briefly kissed her lips, and then went out of the door. 

She sighed as she looked over at the clock as the door closed behind her husband- 7:35. Wilson had to be in work at eight, and today Mary had to be in work at nine. That meant she had to get going sooner rather than later, and she hated it when she couldn't take her time in the morning to do things. Mary grumbled as she reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a strawberry yogurt, and plopped down onto the couch to watch the morning news on the television.

Although the TV in front of her was on, Mary wasn't paying attention to what was on the screen. Not only did she have to work that day, but she was also meeting with a lawyer over an extended lunch break. After getting married and days upon days of feeling a different kind of sick than she ever had felt in her life, she had finally come to the decision that she needed a will. 

Before she was married, Mary never really contemplated the subject. Not only did she not have anything of any actual importance, but also she didn't have any preference as to what happened after she was gone. It all seemed so hopeless before that none of that mattered. Now, however, her priorities were more or less in order. She knew that she wanted to leave something to Wilson and Billy, as well as to George, and the rest going to her family. She didn't have much to give them, but she certainly wasn't going to need anything after she was gone.

Mary showered quickly that morning, having spent too much time on the couch, and quickly rushed out the door so that she'd be in work on time. She greeted her boss upon arrival, clocking in for the day, and took her position behind the counter. Since it was a Monday, things were slow in the bookstore, so after a half hour she went around to make sure all the books were in order. She was the only one in the door, besides her boss who was in the back room doing inventory. New magazines were dropped off around ten o'clock, and she shelved those between making two sales. At noon, she was off.

The office building intimidated her a little bit. When she went inside and found the room she needed, her nervousness began to mount. The whole idea of making a will was a little more than she was ready to handle, and regardless of that Wilson didn't know she was doing this. She figured that if he knew, he would try to interject himself into the process. Mary felt that this was an intimate activity, one that didn't necessarily require his presence.

The secretary eventually told her that she could go in, and she sat down face to face with a sixty year old man. He seemed nice enough, but a little strange for her tastes. Still, on the outside he seemed to be qualified enough to do the job, and that was all she needed him for.

"So, Mrs. West, what can I do for you?"

"I…I want to write up my will," she responded quietly.

The man's eyes perked up. "You're so young. Are you sure?"

Mary nodded. "I have cancer." She felt that was sufficient enough of a response.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But, you've come to the right place. I can do that for you. All I will need is a list of who gets what, I'll put it into "lawyer-speak" and print it up for you, you'll sign, and then that will be it."

She nodded again. She had assumed that that was more or less how it was going to work. "OK."

"Great," he responded. "You come back in a few days or so, take your time, and I'll do that for you."

"I have a question," she said before he attempted to usher her out the door. "Would you be able to give things to people after I am gone- or could I arrange for someone to give something to someone else?"

"What would you have in mind?"

"I want my husband to distribute letters to my family," she said confidently.

"That could be arranged. But wouldn't it just be easier to give the letters to your husband and ask him to do it yourself?"

"No," she responded, reluctant to provide him with any further information. He was a lawyer, not a marriage counselor- not that she needed one, she told herself.

"All right," he said, not asking since she wasn't telling. Personally, he thought that she was way too young to be married already, but he tried his hardest to withhold judgment. "You would have to give me the letters, though. And, if that's all, I'll see you in a few days Mrs. West."

Mary shook the man's hand, taking note of the fact that he was practically kicking her out, and walked out of the room. She exited the office building, got back into her car, and went to the bookstore again. She stayed behind the counter the rest of the day; she quickly got tired after doing so much that morning. She debated the rest of the afternoon as to whether or not she was going to tell Wilson about the will and the meeting with the lawyer, but she decided against it. There was no reason to scare him. It had taken her weeks to warm up to idea herself.

Mary arrived back at home at 4:30, and Wilson didn't return until 6:30. He usually got home closer to six, but he was lat that night for some reason. Mary heard him enter the apartment and smiled as she got up to greet him. She kissed him, feeling guilty for deciding earlier to not tell him, and pulled back to look at the clock.

"Why are you so late?" she asked him.

"Because of this," he said holding up a slip of paper and handing it to Mary.

She took it from him and read it over. She giggled after a few seconds and kissed his cheek. "A speeding ticket?"

"Yup. I was only going 35. I don't see why they ever make the speed limit 25 miles per hour; the car doesn't even go that slow," he said in an aggravated tone. She laughed again and leaned up to kiss him once more. "So, how was your day?"

"Fine," she said lying through her teeth. "Nothing interesting."

"That's good. I don't want you getting too tired."

"Too late," she commented as she leaned her body against his in a dramatic fashion.

"Did you sleep at all?" he asked.

"I took a little nap when I got home, but I didn't really let myself sleep because I was waiting for you to come home.  I wanted to see you." He kissed her. "I can sleep later."

"If you're tired," he said placing his hands on her hips, "you should sleep now. You have radiation tomorrow."

She sighed heavily. "I know, I know."

"How is that going?" he inquired. He didn't really know much about the whole process, except that Mary went to have it done an awful lot and that it always made her exhausted and sicker than she left feeling. 

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Ask your brother."

"I've been meaning to ask you," he said," are you OK with that? You know, George being your doctor and your brother-in-law?"

"Completely," she answered as she took his hand. "I like him I love you- what is there to not be OK with?"

Mary pulled Wilson into the bedroom with hr, lying down on the bed and bringing him with her. She didn't like sleeping alone, and she didn't feel it was fair to just leave him all by himself for most of the night. Wilson smiled at Mary, but got off the bed to change out of his suit that he wore to work. A few minutes later, when Wilson lay back down next to her, she was fast asleep. He rolled over, kissed her forehead softly, then got out of bed to make something for the two of them to eat. He was starving, and although he knew Mary never had much of an appetite he made her eat, too. 

An hour later, Wilson had prepared soup, rice, and some very delicious chicken for Mary. The aroma woke her and she came stumbling out of the bedroom just as he was putting food out for her. She sat down at the table, feeling bad that he always cooked meals for them. She picked up her spoon for her soup when she realized what she was about to eat. Wilson had made this meal for her twice before- both times he was trying to butter her up. He wondering what he was going to tell her now, but then decided that she didn't care. 

She took a deep breath and decided to live in the moment, happy and grateful for what she had. She loved Wilson so much, and he obviously loved her, too. What man cooks dinner for his wife after a long day of work? Only the ones who really cared about you and wanted to make sure that you were OK. Instantaneously, she felt bad about lying to him about the will thing, but stopped herself. Eat you chicken, Mary, she told herself. He cooked for you- again. What more do you want out of life?

Wilson, however, was not as good at letting things go as Mary was. "Lucy's husband is a cop, right?"

Mary looked at him strangely. "Yes."

"What's his name again?"

"Kevin. Why do you ask?" Mary was truly perplexed. What in the world would he want to know about Kevin for?

"No, what's his last name?"

"Kinkirk," she told him reluctantly.

"What does he look like?"

Mary put down her utensil and looked straight at Wilson. "Well, he's tall- around your height actually, but you're a little taller than he is. Um, he's twenty-six, light brown hair. He looks a lot like-" Mary bit her tongue. No way was she going to set herself up like that and tell Wilson that Kevin looked like Ben. That would just be dumb. "Never mind."

"I have something to tell you then," he said reaching for her hand. "It's not that important, but I should tell you just the same." He exhaled deeply and looked up at her. "The guy who pulled me over today was Kevin."

Mary dropped his hand. "What? Wilson, how-"

He picked up her hand again and held it with both of his own. "Look, you've got nothing to worry about. It wasn't as if I said, 'you're Lucy's husband? I'm Mary's husband.'"

"Still!" she said angrily. "Everything trickles down with my family. That's why you have to stay as far away from them as possible." In the heat of the moment, she picked up her plate and fork and locked herself in the bedroom to eat alone. 

"Mary!" Wilson screamed as he banged on the bedroom door. "I'm sorry! I didn't plan it or anything. Please, just let me in. Let's talk." What Mary didn't know was that Wilson had the key to the door above the door jam and could easily let himself in. He wouldn't do that, though, because he respected her privacy and the right she had to lock herself in the bedroom- very democratic.

Mary flopped down on the bed, careful not to spill her food, and finished her meal in silence. She laid back on the bed and closed her eyes, feeling even more exhausted than she did before after yelling at Wilson and keeping things from him. She tried her hardest to stay awake and think of what she should say to her husband, but it was nearly impossible. She wasn't feeling very well, either, and she fell asleep within fifteen minutes of lying down.

Wilson finished his dinner and cleared the table. He sat down on the couch, trying to make sense of Mary and everything she did. He figured, though, that it would just take some time before they got to know each other a little better; then he would be able to comprehend more of what she did. Wilson smiled at the thought of them becoming closer and got up of the couch.

He locked up for the night, turned off the lights, and let himself back into his bedroom. He found Mary just as he expected she would be- sprawled out asleep on the bed. He pulled the comforter up over her body and put her dinner plate in the sink. After changing into his nighttime attire, Wilson crawled into bed next to his wife. He kissed her cheek and she awakened. 

"Sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you up. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." A few minutes later, she spoke again. "Wilson, I'm sorry I got so angry with you. I blew it way out of proportion. You were just being honest, something I find very admirable."

"Well, thanks." Mary rolled over and laid most of her body on tope of his. It felt like dead weight on top of him. This struck Wilson as being odd; usually Mary had enough strength not to throw herself on top of him. "Are you feeling all right?"

"No," she said snuggling even closer into him. "I feel really, really sick." Mary groaned as she buried herself deeper into Wilson's body. Her head hurt; she felt nauseous, achy, and just overall bad. 

"Can I do anything for you?"

"No. It's normal, but I usually feel this way after radiation, not before." These symptoms were the ones that she typically exhibited the morning after she had her radiation, but this time everything felt stronger. "I don't want to go for radiation tomorrow. I don't want to feel any worse than this and, believe me, it's going to get worse."

He held her closer, leaning down to kiss her lips gently. "You'll be OK," he told her, not sure of what else he should be saying. "And if you're not, I'll be here for you."

"I love you," she said accompanied by a yawn.

"I love you, too, Mare. Sleep now, you're tired."

She nodded and followed his instructions. Within three minutes she was asleep again, and she didn't wake up until Wilson was just about to leave the next morning. She felt his hands on her, shaking her gently, and then his lips kiss hers as her eyes opened. 

"Good morning, sweetie. I have to go, but I just wanted to say goodbye and tell you that I set the alarm clock for one for you." Mary's radiation appointment was at 2:30 that afternoon. "So you can just sleep and not have to worry about anything, all right?"

She nodded and reached for his hand, the closest thing to her. She kissed it lightly and smiled. "Have a good day at work. I love you." 

Wilson kissed Mary's lips, told her that he loved her as well, and then was out the door. Mary sighed as she rolled over and looked at the clock. If she didn't get up now, she would never get up in time to be able to do what she wanted today. Since she had her radiation, she wasn't working, but she had something more important than that to do that day.

She stood up, a little wobbly and still feeling as bad as the night before, and went over to the desk. Underneath Wilson's laptop was a pad of paper. She reached for that and the box of envelopes on the side of the desk. It was time to get cracking.

A/N: This chapter had a lot of dialog toward the end. And the food thing was weird and stupid. But, what I do actually like is that it peered just a little bit into Mary's work life. Not that it is all that insanely important, but it just develops her character more. I also attempted to develop the Mary/Wilson married-life relationship. It sounds pretty good to me- newlywed-ish enough but still serious. This chapter was OK I guess. The plot was not horrible but I don't like how I got it across. Oh well.

Next chapter will be the actual letters to everyone. Yes, I am going to show you the letters- something that I normally wouldn't do because I hate writing things that are going to take a lot of work. You should feel privileged.

Mary likes chicken. Wilson likes chicken. I like chicken. Reviews taste like chicken.


	15. Dearest Family

A/N: Be sure to read Chapter 14 before you read this chapter.

Dear Dad,

I don't know what I am supposed to be saying to you. I guess I should explain myself, though, because I can picture your face right now and you are not happy. Well, if you have this I am gone so I must not have had a chance to tell you anything; I'll start from the beginning. First off, yes, I have cervical cancer. I was diagnosed at the end of September of what will hopefully be last year by the time you get this. That was why I moved back home. When I left, though, I married Wilson. It's a long story, but we eloped and I moved right out of your house in with him. I would have told you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

There are a lot of things I couldn't bring myself to tell you, actually. I can't remember most of them now, but as I look back on my life I keep thinking back to hiding things from you. I guess we never really had an open relationship- at least not recently. I'm sorry for that. If I ever hurt you by my actions, including keeping all of this from you, I am sorry about that as well. I never meant to cause you or anyone else any pain, but I guess that's just what I do.

Don't ever forget that I love you with all of my heart, and use that love to overcome whatever type of pain you are feeling right now. You're a strong man, and if anyone can do something like that, you can. Remember that.

Dear Mom, 

You've probably heard by now that I have died from cancer. That's true; I had cervical cancer. You probably know a little about it, and, knowing you, you probably want to read up about it or something. I am asking you now not to do that or get too worked up over it- there is no real need for that. It's over now, and I almost wish that you could forget about it as soon as you learn I had it.

But I know you would only do those things out of love, and just so that you know I was always well aware of how much you loved me. Good mood or not, you always loved me. I am just asking you to do the same of me now, because I could see how you could feel anger or resentment toward me.

When I pulled away from you, though, and didn't have your love, I had Wilson's to fall back on- my husband. I feel so strongly for him that a lot of the time I even forget that I am sick. He doesn't, though, and he takes good care of me. I know that's what you always wanted for me to have, and even though my life was cut short I had it. Wife, mother, friend, daughter, and sister- everything you ever hoped I could aspire to I did. I wouldn't have done any of it without your love and support, though, and for that I will be eternally grateful. 

I love you so much.

Matt,

Don't worry, I didn't forget about you. You and I both know what a strange ting it is to move out of the house, and I wouldn't dare commit such a heinous crime of not writing one of these for you. But let's get right to the chase. I have, or had, cervical cancer and Wilson and I eloped. That pretty much covers all the bases, don't you think?

I realize that you probably studied about cervical cancer in school, and know well more about it than I ever will, but that's not saying much. Honestly, I don't know much about what is going on right now, except that currently I am not feeling too hot. I'll give you the medical aspect of it, though, since I am sure you are interested. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but right now I am doing external radiation every other day. Wilson's brother is a gynecologic oncologist and he is my doctor. He's just as nice and warmhearted as Wilson is, so there is no need to worry about that. I was diagnosed at Stage I, but now I don't really know what stage I am in. He only tells me things on a very strict need to know basis because he knows it scares me when he discusses it. I've had a tumor removed, a big one from what I am told, and so far that is it. 

But enough about that. I am sure that you would agree with me that that kind of thing is very depressing. So…I love you. You were a wonderful big brother to me and a great role model. I'm sure you'll make a great father. And, speaking of which, tell Sarah that I love her as well. She is a good woman and you are a good man.

Simon, 

You were always an interesting kid, you know that? You're a very unique and special person. I could go on a gripe about me, but I don't want to do that. I want to talk about you. I'm pretty sure that whenever you get this, you'll still be going through a hard time over the accident. As a kid who made a lot of mistakes myself, I want to tell you that you can overcome it. Granted, I never faced anything close to what you were and are, but I can relate on some level. I just wanted to let you know that it will be OK. People say that to you because it is true. I'm sure you already know, but it won't be today and it won't be tomorrow, but one day you'll just wake up and realize that it is all better. And I want you to keep working at it because rising above this and everything will set you free. 

I love you Simon, and I'll be watching out over you. When you go through tough times, remember me, and remember this, and remember that it will all be OK.

Ruthie,

You're probably having the third hardest time with this, coming in behind Lucy and Mom. But, I can also see you pulling the family together. I want you to do that for me- my last wish I guess you could consider it. 

I died from cervical cancer. When you're older, feel free to ask Matt about it because he'll know plenty, but please don't do it now. I don't want you to get sad or frightened.

Besides that, I have some advice about Peter. First loves are always magical. I should know, I married mine. Wilson and I eloped. But I want to warn you, too. Don't let Peter be your "end all and be all" just yet. Learn from me; when you're young the sun does not rise and set with just one man. The only reason I am saying any of this is because I see the spark that you both have. That probably scares Dad out of his mind. I just want to tell you to take it slow, meet other people, but don't close yourself off to Peter ever. No matter what happens, you can land smack dab in another relationship with him. Life's funny that way.

Sam and David,

Hey guys! I would have written you both separate letters, but to be honest I am running out of things to say to people. You guys are so young, though, that I don't know what I should be saying to you. You guys can't even read this, though, which makes it even more stupid, but it's still important.

I don't want to say anything that's going to mess up whatever Mom and Dad have told you is going on, so I'll put it like this. I got very, very sick. It wasn't like getting the flu or something, it was sicker than that. I was sick for a long time, but I am not sick anymore- I'm not sick because I have gone to heaven. Dad can tell you both all about that.

I love you two so much and I am so sorry that I am not going to see you grow up. I guess I'll just have to watch you from heaven- think of it as stadium seating. Well, have a good life, listen to Mom and Dad and the rest of your brothers and sisters, get married, have children, and fall in love. 

Dear George,

I am thankful everyday that you are my doctor. I am so lucky to have you as a part of my two-man recovery team. I really don't think that I could thank you enough for everything you have done for me so far, and I know that you'll be doing much for me between now and the end. 

Honestly, you have changed my life. First off, if you weren't who you are I would never have run into Wilson again. So I thank you for enduring the grueling process that is med school. Secondly, you've made everything a lot easier on me. If my doctor was someone who was not as nice or sensitive as you, I would be a lot less happy in life.

And I want to tell you that I am leaving money to you. I don't know how much exactly because I don't know how much I have, but I am guessing it isn't a lot. Anyway, it's for your practice. I want you to put the money to good use; I'm sure you can use it for something. Besides, you deserve it. You are a wonderful man, a great doctor, and the best brother-in-law I could have asked for. And all that rolled into one package; all you need is your brother's good looks and you'll be all set in life.

Seriously though, you've really meant a lot to me and I can't thank you enough for everything you have done. I love you like a brother and, as a brother, the one thing I am going to ask of you is to watch out for Wilson. Don't let him get too upset. I know you can be more…levelheaded and objective than he is. I trust you to help him, just like I trusted you to help me. And, believe me, I was never sorry I did that.

Dearest Wilson,

I am writing this to you as something you can keep, stick in a drawer somewhere, and just look back on when you feel like strolling down memory lane. I don't know when you are going to get this, but as of right now we haven't even been married a month. So far, it's been phenomenal. You are one of the most amazing men that I have ever met, and the only man for me. I love you more than I can ever tell you, because words cannot convey that kind of emotion. Even if they could, they wouldn't do it justice.

I love you deeper and more passionately than I have ever loved anyone in my life. These past weeks I have been married to you have been the best weeks I ever remember having. You've looked out for me, you've trusted me, and when you didn't know what else to do you just held me, with the commitment to never let me go. That kind of love seems almost surreal in comparison to everything else that has happened in my life.

You've also done a great job of getting my mind off of things. Most of the time, when you're with me, I don't feel all that sick anymore. I don't feel all that great as I am writing this now, but even thinking of you makes me feel better. Loving you is like looking at life through rose-colored glasses. 

I can't even imagine how you would deal with my death. I know that if the roles were reversed and I was in your place, I would certainly go out of my mind with fear, worry, and concern. But you haven't, and for that I owe you a lot if not everything I have. With that being said, I want you to know that I am giving you half of my money. It's probably a grand total of five dollars, but maybe you could go out and buy some ice cream and think of me. I'd like that.

Five bucks should get you almost two ice cream cones, though, so make sure you get one for Billy. Make sure you tell him that I love him very, very much, and that I never wanted to leave him. This has to be unbelievably hard for him, and I hate the fact that one day I could be the cause of pain for him. I never meant or wanted to hurt either of you.

I love you with every last cell in my body, cancerous or not, and even though it was probably short-lived, thank you for making me your wife. Giving of your heart was the best thing you ever could have done for me and I have appreciated our time together more than you will ever know. 

Lucy,

I saved your letter to the end because I have the most to tell you and I didn't want to have everyone else's letter looming over my head. I am going to ask you up front, though, not to share this letter with anyone- even Kevin. This is between me and you, just like our late night conversations used to be when we were younger. 

Now I know you are going to be upset that you didn't get to say goodbye to me, but don't worry about it. I know how much you love me. And I love you, too. Although we didn't always see eye to eye, you stood by me through everything. I can look back at every single one of the hard times in my life and know that you help see me through them, with the exception of having cancer.

I know that you would have seen me through that, too, but I didn't give you a chance. I'm sure that you are wondering why that is, so I'll try to give you some insight. After everything that happened over the summer with Simon, I just couldn't bear to tell all of you that I was sick. I didn't want to bring you all any more pain. I've done plenty of that in my lifetime- much more than my fair share actually. I didn't want to have to see any of your faces, or discuss it with you, or have your sympathy either. That wasn't what I wanted. All I would have liked was to have you all look at me the same way you always have and not to have any special treatment. If I told you, everything would have changed. Even if I got better, it still would never have been the same. I didn't want that to happen.

As I am sure you are probably already aware, I died of cervical cancer. I found out in September. When I moved back home, when I was living with you guys, I knew- but I wasn't strong enough to tell you. That's what it was really, although it was hard to admit it. Lack of strength. If it were any one of you that this happened to, you would have been strong enough to tell the rest of the family what was going on and take it like an adult instead of a child.

Speaking of children, I don't think that I am ever going to be able to have any. I haven't asked yet because, again, I am afraid to know. I have gotten so much radiation in that area though that it doesn't seem possible. Nothing down there feels right anymore.

And I want to ask you, beg you, that if you ever don't feel right or anything like that, to go to the doctor. Make sure that you get tested, even if you feel fine. I never really thought that anything was wrong with me. And make sure that you get mom to go get tested, and Ruthie when she is old enough. Now, not later, because remember I was barely 22. 

And I want to ask you to live a little of your life for me, and go on to do something great in the world. I don't think I ever would have done something great, but then again I never got the chance. But you have your whole life ahead of you. Go out there and carpe diem your little but into doing something amazing for me. 

I gave Ruthie some love advice, but I don't think I need to do that for you. You have Kevin, and after all of that time I got Wilson. We eloped and it was wonderful. Two days after I moved out of the house, we eloped and I moved in with him. I had surgery, that's why I left, and he went and stayed with me. Then Wilson told me he loved me, the whole "trying to be friends" scheme went out the window, and I suggested that we elope. This time he actually went for it. I know- another one of my wacky plans, but I'd be wacky like that all of the time if I knew everything would turn out to have such amazing results.

I really love him, more than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life. He's so great to me Luce, you'd be proud. I know you always liked him, and in general you had pretty good radar when it came to men. 

I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I married him. I really wanted to, but it went hand in hand with everything else. I ran into him at the hospital one day. His brother is my doctor. Isn't that wild? Wilson had the nerve to rush in on one of my appointments, so I broke down and told him I had cancer, and the rest is history I guess. Life is miraculous, isn't it? Even when it seems to take a bite out of you, you can't give up on it, because if you do you'll indefinitely miss out on something amazing.

I think that's just about everything. Anything else you want to know I give you permission to ask Wilson. Or if he isn't up to it, you can probably ask George- that's Wilson's brother. He's six years older than Wilson and one of the nicest and sweetest men I have ever met. Good sense of humor, too. Maybe you could fix him up with someone?

I told Mom and Dad that I didn't want them mad at me, but I know I don't have to say that to you because you would never be mad at me. You'll always love me despite everything I ever did and that means so much to me. So did our friendship. I'm so sorry that that is over now. But you have a husband to occupy your time. Have some kids, tell them all about how amazing their Aunt Mary was, and just be happy. I'm sure everything will be fine.

Finished, sealed, and ready to be delivered.

A/N: Not much to say about this. In case you didn't realize, it's the letter Mary is leaving to the people she cares about after she passes, if she passes. Next chapter will be back to my original style, don't worry. This was just to give Mary some sort of interaction with her family and let you know what she really thinks of them and things like that.

You want to write _me_ a letter? How sweet! Just write it as a review.


	16. Hung Over the Toilet

After Mary finished writing her letters, she went back to sleep. They actually didn't take her as long to write as she thought they would, and she was able to get in a decent amount of sleep before the alarm went off that Wilson had set for her. The sound rang throughout the room and she rolled out of bed, feeling worse than she had before. This definitely was not good.

Mary arrived at radiation, checked in, and waited for someone to bring her back to administer her treatment. She leaned her head against the palm of her hand and without meaning to fell asleep. George walked in the room about five minutes later. He saw her sitting there and said hello. When she didn't move, her bent down so that he could see her face better. Crouching down, he found that Mary was fast asleep. He gently shook her knee and her eyes opened. 

"Hey sleeping beauty," he said to her as he stood. "It's time." 

She groaned and stood up slowly, appearing to not be with it that day. George took notice of this but didn't say anything to her as he lead her back to the isolated room. He followed her inside and she sat on the table.

"Are you OK?" he finally asked. "You look pale."

"Not really," she said openly. "I don't feel very well; I haven't since yesterday morning."

"So your little nap in there…I just thought that you hadn't gotten a full night's rest or something. You know, Wilson tuckering you out."

Mary huffed and rolled her eyes at him. "Not quite. But he's not really helping. We got into this fight last night- actually I picked a fight with him, over something really stupid. And then I…never mind. I don't want to be talking about it."

"Did you two make up?"

"Yes, but I still feel bad about it." She sighed. "Being sick and fighting with him really isn't a good combination. It makes me feel worse."

George smiled sympathetically. "Well, I have an easy answer for you then: don't pick fights with your husband." Mary laughed sarcastically. "But you guys are newlyweds. You're bound to fight; it happens."

She smiled forlornly. "But it's not supposed to happen to us."

"Oh gosh," he commented. "I can't listen to any of this mushy stuff. I may be a doctor, but I am not a doctor of love- and for good reason, too. Now, undress so we can get started. If we talk any longer I'll be responsible for gumming up the works and I won't allow that to happen."

This time, her smile was genuine. "OK, OK, I'm undressing. Now go."

George walked out of the room and Mary undressed, placing the sheet over her to cover up her exposed body. George knocked on the door and walked back inside.

"You know what I was thinking about?" she said to him when he walked back in. "I'm Mrs. West and you're Mr. West. That's just creepy."

He laughed at her. "You have a strange mind. And besides, it's not creepy. I'm Dr. West, not Mr. West." She joined in the laughter with him. "But all kidding aside Mary, I wanted to tell you that I am going to be cranking up your radiation about half a notch, unless if you have a good enough reason to protest."

"I probably could muster one up," she told him as he finished positioning the machinery above her, "but I don't want my strange mind to interfere with my treatment. You just do what you think you should be doing George."

"All right then. An extra side of radiation for Mrs. West. You'll be done in twenty minutes."

He stepped back outside and the radiation started once again. When the machine started up, she could feel the medication hit her. She felt even worse in an instant, like being directly exposed to an entire roomful of chicken pox all at once. She didn't think that it could get any worse, but she was obviously wrong. Evidently her recent condition was only the tip of the iceberg.

Wilson arrived home that day and the house was quiet. He didn't see Mary around, so he just assumed that she was in bed. As he took off his jacket he contemplated his options. Since it was close to 6:15, he had two choices: make dinner that she probably wouldn't eat or skip the meal and get into bed with her now. That was an easy choice, seeing as Mary would win out over some pasta any day.

He changed into his pajamas, since he was not planning on getting out of bed until tomorrow morning, and crawled in next to his wife. He kissed Mary's forehead a few times, but she did not awaken. Instead of intentionally disturbing her slumber, Wilson wrapped his arms around Mary and held her close. Still, he did not interrupt her sleep. Several minutes later though, when she went to roll over, she crashed into Wilson's body and woke herself up.

"Hi honey," he whispered to her when her eyes opened.

"What time is it?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"It's early." He kissed her cheek. "I just got home." Mary nodded. "How was your radiation?"

"Fine, but-"

"Have you been sleeping since you got home? Are you feeling any better?"

She smiled. Even though she was very tired, his interrogation was still very sweet. "Yes and no." She rolled her head onto his shoulder. He was so good to her, and so good for her. He was perfect in any way that a person could be and that was what she loved about him. She still felt bad about keeping her will from him. As she reflected upon it with her head on his chest, it seemed so stupid and petty to keep it to herself. But no matter how stupid it might be, she just couldn't bring herself to tell him about it. Mary decided right then and there that she was going to keep from him for good and to just move on. That would go under the "very strictly need to know" category in her mind.

Wilson held Mary tightly, beginning to feel slightly ambivalent. He had been thinking of Mary all day, and about her being sick, and he just didn't know what he should be doing anymore. He thought that he might talk to her about his anxiety, but she was always sleeping nowadays. They hardly ever spent that much quality time together and he was upset. He realized that it was not her fault, or his as he could see it, but he wanted to see her more. 

While Wilson was thinking of all this and Mary was thinking of her problems, they both fell asleep early, still holding tightly onto one another for fear of what letting go would bring. They must have released each other at some point during the night, though, because Wilson woke up the next morning without Mary next to him. He went in to give her a morning kiss, but was only greeted with another set of pillows. 

He got up to look for her, hearing sounds coming from the bathroom. He saw her slumped over the toilet, purging the entire contents of her stomach. He rushed over to her and pulled her hair off of her face. She wretched again when he touched her, leaning against the toilet for support. Wilson rubbed her back and after a few moments she got up and brushed her teeth. 

Wilson made sure that he had his hands on her; he was afraid that she was going to pass out. She looked very pale and sickly, but not without good reason. She hadn't eaten in about thirty-six hours and the last few times her body forced her to puke, nothing that seemed like it could have ever been food came up- only a clear liquid came out.

With the aide of Wilson, Mary was guided back to bed. He tucked her back in and knelt down by her bedside, picking up her hand and holding it lightly and calmly. "How are you doing?"

Mary drew her knees into her chest, shuddering because her whole body ached. "Wilson," she mumbled desolately, not having the strength at the moment to answer him properly.

"You're worse, right?" She nodded. "Are you going to get better any time soon?" 

She opened her eyes and looked up at him radically. "I really don't know," she answered quietly, "but I hope so."

"Is there anything I can do for you honey?" She shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes again. It was evident that she was still very tired. "You sleep," he instructed as he gently caressed her cheek. "I'll be right back."

Wilson went out of the bedroom and to the kitchen/living area of their apartment. He picked up the cordless phone from the cradle on the wall and dialed George's home telephone number, with complete disregard for the fact that it was not yet even six o'clock in the morning.

"Hello?"

"Mary's really sick," he said getting down to business.

"Good morning to you, too." George heard Wilson sigh and he knew Wilson was not kidding around. "How sick? Is she OK?"

"I don't know. She was throwing up a few minutes ago and she just looks so pale. I don't know what I should be doing for her or if she's going to be all right."

George sat up in his bed so that he would be able to give Wilson his undivided attention. "She'll be fine, unless she's telling you otherwise. Radiation makes you nauseous, and I know that she gets nauseous from it fairly easily, so that explains her throwing up. And as for her being pale that can be from a lot of different things, but I'm sure it's from the radiation. Actually she was pale when she came for it yesterday. She didn't look well then."

"Did you do something about it?"

"I asked her if she was OK, and she said that she was. People get sick from this Wilson. What was I supposed to do?" he said sounding slightly annoyed. Usually George was more cordial, but Wilson had interrupted his beauty rest.

"You're her doctor. She needs you to do something for her."

George rolled his eyes. "The only thing that she needs right now is you. Just…try to be there for her a little more often. Be nice to her and stuff. That'll probably help more than anything else will."

"Since when did you become an expert on women?"

"Since your wife keeps on spilling her guts to me," he said poking fun at Wilson. "You should be the one listening to that stuff, right?"

Wilson hung his head, and although George couldn't see it he heard it in Wilson's voice. "She's been sleeping all the time. There isn't even time to talk anymore. Whenever she's awake I'm working." Wilson hit himself in the head. "I forgot that Mary has to work today. I have to go; I have to call in sick for her. Thanks George."

"Wait a second," he said as Wilson was about to hang up the phone. "Did you just tell me that she's still working?"

"Yes," Wilson answered reluctantly. 

"Why on earth is she still working Wilson? You have money. You have health insurance. Take care of your wife," George ordered. Obviously, Wilson needed him to whip things into shape. "Now put her on the phone. I want to talk to her."

Wilson walked into the bedroom and gave the phone to Mary. "George wants to talk to you," he said.

"What does he want?" she asked as she took the phone from him. 

"I don't know." Wilson kissed Mary's forehead and she smiled. He smiled, too, but on the inside he was a lot less happy. He felt frustrated and annoyed that he wasn't as close with Mary as he wanted to be. They only thing that he wanted to was to know what she was going through and to be able to make everything better for her, but he couldn't. It was killing him. The fact that she was letting George in so easily was almost hurting him more.

"How bad are you? Do you need to come to the hospital?" he said in the most doctor-like fashion he could muster.

"No," she said. Wilson walked out of the room, giving her what little privacy she could have in the small apartment. Since he was gone, Mary was free to speak candidly about how she was feeling. She didn't want to talk about it in front of him so that he wouldn't worry about her unnecessarily, so she tended to keep to herself a lot. "I puked up just about everything in my stomach and I feel worse than I have ever felt in my entire life."

"It's the radiation," he explained to her. "I told you you were going to be getting sicker, and since we've increased how many times a week you receive your treatment and the strength of them you are going to get worse. But they good news is that you're probably just having a very bad day; you'll probably be having a couple of bad days. After a while it will get better though, trust me. If it doesn't, there will be some stuff we can try for you."

Mary groaned. "So you're telling me to buck up?"

"I'm telling you to hang in there," he clarified. "Put Wilson back on the phone. I'll call you later and check on you, OK?"

"All right," she said contentedly. "Thanks." 

Mary called Wilson back and gave him the phone. George told Wilson to leave the cordless phone at Mary's bedside and that he was going to call her; Wilson should do the same. Wilson huffed but conceded. He didn't like how George was being so pushy, so he quickly ended the conversation before a fight ensued and he was late for work.

Wilson kissed Mary once more before he left for the office. "Are you going to be all right without me?"

"I'll be fine." She kissed him herself. "Now get to work. I love you."

Wilson wrapped his arms around Mary and held her securely. "I love you, too, Mary." There was no doubt in his mind. He did love her, but he was just going to have to try a little harder to gain her affection. That didn't bother Wilson much, though. He was never one to run from a little hard work.

A/N: I want to apologize for the extremely long interval between updates. There was school and midterms, and I updated my fanlistngs…but that is no excuse. And I'm even sorrier that, if you were waiting, you waited this long for such a sucky chapter. I don't even know what I am doing next chapter, but I think I have opened up another conflict now. There is going to be some sort of struggle for closeness; I can feel it. 

Again, I am sorry for the wait, but reviews will make it all go faster.


	17. As Days Go By

The rest of Wednesday and Thursday were fairly mundane for Mary. She slept and watched as Wilson came and went, came and went. Mary passed her time lying in bed with nothing to do. She slept a lot, but when she wasn't sleeping she was thinking things over. She had to find a way to patch up some of the holes and weak spots of her life. 

When Wilson came home Thursday night, Mary looked better. One would even say that her health had dramatically improved, from the outside appearances anyway. Her face had gotten back most of its color and she was looking relatively normal. On the inside, she was still sick, but she no longer felt as sickly as days prior.

He entered the apartment to find Mary sitting in the living room watching some television. She hadn't been out of the bedroom in days. Wilson smiled as he walked over to her, not saying a word. He sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. This was not enough for Mary, though. With newfound energy, she took Wilson's face in her hands and kissed him with a week's worth of pent up passion. "Wow," he said as he pulled away. Mary smiled seductively and brought her lips to his one last time, searching for the love in his lips and not stopping until she found it.

"Someone is feeling better," he said after he sat back out of her grasp. Talk first, make out later. 

"I feel a lot better. I was sleeping, and then I woke up and I felt fine. It was pretty weird actually, but I'm not going to complain about it."

Wilson smiled and went in to kiss her forehead before leaning his brow on hers. "Well I'm glad you're up and about. I've missed you the past few days."

Mary pulled her head away from his and stared deeply into his eyes. "I've missed you, too," she said after a while, "thus the reason for the kiss." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know I probably haven't been the best wife the past couple of days, but I'm going to try to do a better job. I have to do better, because as much as I need you there'll come a time when you need me just as much and I have to be prepared to be here for you like you're doing for me right now."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. This transition into marriage hasn't been easy on either of us but we'll make it work. I know we will."

"Just the same," she continued, "I want to make dinner for us tonight. You've been so great being Master Chef and all, but now it's my turn to do something for you. Even though I am sick I still have to be responsible and start pulling my weight around here."

"Speaking of pulling your weight…" Wilson said, easing into the topic. "I've been thinking about you and work, and the conclusion I have come to is that you should stay home permanently. You feeling as sick as you did proves that there are going to be some tough times ahead of you while you're getting better, and work could be too much for you." She went to protest before Wilson could finish, but he silenced her by continuing. "You told me before that the only reason you are working is for your insurance and to pay your bills. I pay our bills, and I have insurance. I can put you under my plan and then you won't have to worry about anything." He paused. "I would never, ever ask you to give up something you love doing, but it isn't like you are teaching special needs children or something Mare."

She failed to see the humor in his words and remained emotionless for a little before responding. For once she was being practical and thinking before she spoke. "Can you afford that? I don't want to cause any financial strain or anything."

"We can afford it," he said stressing the word "we." "It'll cost a little more but nothing impossible. Besides, you're well worth a little financial strain," he said with a smile.

"Is that what you really think I should do?"

"It's what I think you should do and what I want you to do. Honestly." He finished by lightly kissing her lips.

"If you're sure…" he nodded, "then OK."

"Wonderful. And I'll tell you what. Why don't you ease into the role of wife and we can cook together?"

Her grin she had held onto from before widened. "I'd like that."

Mary and Wilson cooked themselves up a very delectable meal, and then cleared the table together. The food wasn't the only thing they enjoyed that night. They got into bed early that night and made out, with a sense of well being over their heads, until they fell asleep locked tightly in the arms of their soul mate.

Mary got up the next morning when Wilson did and sat up in bed thinking as Wilson was in the shower. He got out and saw her staring at him; he was startled. After the shock wore off, he smiled. It was such a treat to wake up to someone as beautiful as Mary was every morning. She smiled back at him. He made everything seem so easy and simple, perfect even.

"You know," she spoke as she enjoyably watched him dress, "I think I'm going to stop by my house today." Wilson stopped buttoning his shirt and stared at her curiously. "I haven't seen my parents in such a long time and I haven't talked to anyone all week." 

Although Mary was determined to keep everything a secret from everyone who would want to know about it, she still kept in touch with her family. They had her cell phone number and contacted her through that. They asked a lot of questions about her life, since she moved out and all, but she doesn't answer any of them. Instead, she gives them vague details and asks more questions about their lives to turn the attention away from her own.

"OK," he said. "Any ulterior motive to going there? Wanting to spill your guts perhaps? Because if you've decided against keeping everything from them, that would be perfectly fine. But I wouldn't want you going alone. I'd want to go with you." 

"I'm not telling anyone anything."

Wilson finished getting dressed but continued to think about what Mary had just told him. "Lonely?"

"I guess you could say that." She lowered her head. "You never think you'll miss them, and then you do, you know?"

Wilson sat down and hugged Mary. "I understand." He kissed Mary's lips ardently. "I have to go or I'll be late. Have a good day honey."

"You, too. I love you Wilson."

He kissed her again. "I love you, too."

Mary ventured home that day around lunchtime. She had called her mother earlier and she was so excited to hear that Mary wanted to visit. She understood that Annie missed her, but Wilson or not, sick or not, she needed to have her own life- a life outside of her family. She reached the house and knocked on the back door before entering the kitchen.

Annie heard the doorknob turn and spun around to look at the door, seeing her twenty-two year old daughter walk inside. "Mary!" she nearly shrieked. Annie rushed over to her side and gave her a tight but loving hug. "I haven't seen you in weeks honey."

"I know Mom," she replied. "I'm sorry. I really should come around here more often."

Annie smiled widely. Mary had definitely matured. She watched on as Mary went over to the twins at the kitchen table and greeted them with a pair of casual hugs and a kiss on the top of each of their heads. 

"So boys," Mary said pulling up a chair next to her brothers, "what have you both been up to since I left?"

"Lucy going to teach us how to write our names," Sam said.

"We want to learn how to write like big boys," said David. "When did you learn to write your name?"

Mary thought for a second. "I don't know. Probably when I was around your age."

The back door opened again to reveal Lucy with school books in tow. "Hi Mom," she said before she saw Mary. Annie gestured to Lucy's older sibling sitting at the table. "Mary?" Lucy asked as she walked toward Mary and gave her a hug. 

Mary had forgotten how much her family liked to hug people, herself included. "Hi Luce."

"I haven't seen you in so long," she commented. "And we haven't talked in over two weeks. What's new? I want to know everything."

Mary laughed. Lucy, even more so than the rest of her family, was very comforting. She'd gotten older and matured a lot more than Mary had, but she was still the same person. That was what Mary loved about her. "Come on, we can go into the living room and talk."

The two sisters did just that, sitting next to each other in one of the two couches that the room had. 

"You look different," Lucy commented. "What's up?"

"Nothing's up."

"Then why do you look like that?"

"Look like what exactly?" Mary questioned. 

"I don't know…happy."

Mary laughed. "Thanks Luce."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. You just look like something is different…better maybe. Are you dating anyone? You're dating, aren't you Mary?"

She smiled to herself. "I promise you I am not dating anyone."

"Why not?" she pried. "You haven't been serious with anyone since Ben, and that was over a year ago."

Mary shook her head. "You're right; it was over a year ago, meaning that it's long gone. Could we please talk about something else? How's married life treating you?"

"Wonderful. I cannot wait until our first anniversary; it's in about four months you know. It's going to be so special."

"Yeah, it will be. You enjoy it Luce, make sure that you remember it always. It'll be something to look back upon when you get old." Mary got very distant and Lucy didn't say anything as she stared at her sister. Mary was thinking about the possibility of her and Wilson never getting to their one-year anniversary. Mary's eyes got teary and as she snapped back into reality she noticed Lucy staring at her. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry. Let's go see if there's anything good to eat."

Mary stood up and Lucy followed her, but stopped her before she exited the room by placing her hand on her sister's arm. "Are you OK?" Lucy asked quietly.

"I'm fine, but I won't be if I don't eat something. I'm starving."

"OK," Lucy said shrugging it off. She chalked Mary's little episode up to the fact that she wasn't married; that she wanted a boyfriend that could be a husband, one that she could share an anniversary with. Maybe it was Ben. At any rate, though, Lucy didn't give it too much thought. It didn't seem like it was all that serious, or, frankly, all that important.

A/N: This chapter was a little better I guess. You asked for it (sort of) and I delivered; some family interaction. Not what you all really wanted, but that's all part of my evil plan. Muah ha! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter better than the last one. No one seemed to be too thrilled with chap sixteen. I reread it and, to be honest, I really don't see why. "To each his own" I guess. 

And you know who has a very good Mary and Wilson story? Josie21612. "Behind Closed Doors" is the title. You should all go and check it out.

Lucy might not think Mary is all that important, but to me reviews are very _very_ important. 


	18. Road Trip

Friday was a very good day for Mary. George called early in the morning and said that he wanted to hold off on the radiation until Monday so that she could have some more time to recuperate from the procedure. Mary couldn't have been more thrilled; she really wasn't in the mood to feel awful all weekend long.

After Dr. George had called her, Mary called Wilson to let him know the good news. He was concerned, saying that he wanted to make sure that she was getting the proper care, but happy all the same. He didn't want Mary to be sick again either. After they hung up, Wilson got a wonderful idea. Mary had been pretty down lately, and with the exception of last night they hadn't spent that much quality time together. A romantic evening, he concluded, was long overdue.

Wilson called Mary that around five to tell her that he would be home a little late, but to be ready to go out when he came home. She didn't have to be dressed up, just dressed. He was wise to call her, too, because she was still in her pajamas. Mary was excited; she knew that Wilson would never do her wrong. She changed about an hour later, throwing on some casual sweatpants and a t-shirt. She pulled her hair up so that she would look halfway decent, her lips donning some very sheer gloss. She looked in the mirror and smiled at herself. Mary felt good about herself for the first time in a while, and she had to admit that dressing for Wilson was the cause. Mary was never Miss Priss, but she had to admit that making herself look good on the outside did wonders for how she felt on the inside. 

The front door opened around a quarter to seven, and Mary was about ready to squeal with excitement. Wilson walked in, smiling mischievously at her. She could tell that he was up to something. He walked over to her and kissed her lips lightly, almost teasing her. "You look beautiful. Go sit in the car and I'll be there in a second. I just have to grab a few things."

Without questioning Mary did as she was told. She was taking full advantage of the ingenuity of her husband. Mary got into the passenger's side of the car, closing the door behind her, and waited for Wilson to come out of the apartment. She watched the door and when he finally emerged he could barely fit through the doorway; his arms were stuffed with three blankets, paper plates, and a sweatshirt. He wobbled down the stairs and put the items in the trunk before getting in himself.

"What was all of that?" she asked, no longer able to keep her questions at bay. 

"Just some stuff. Don't worry about it." Wilson turned onto the main road.

"And I suppose you're not telling me where we are going?"

He smiled. "Nope. All I'm saying is that it's going to be a little bit of a drive."

Wilson was correct about the estimated time. It took them nearly and hour to get to their destination, but after Wilson saw Mary's reaction he was sure that it was well worth it. Wilson reached their target of a small, deserted beach that he and Mary could enjoy without interruption or worry. Since it was the end of January, there was no one around for miles. And it was also pitch black out, rendering the beach beautiful with the moonlight reflecting off of the salt water and stars above them.

Before they got out of the car, Mary leaned over and kissed Wilson passionately. "You know you're amazing, right?"

"I try," he said as he opened the car door. From the trunk, he got out his blankets, the sweatshirt, plates, and some food that he had prepared earlier. He walked onto the beach with Mary by his side and stretched out the blanket on the sand. Mary sat and Wilson draped another blanket over her shoulders. He put pasta salad onto two plates and handed one to Mary.

She ate her food and leaned against Wilson, taking in her surroundings- the scenery and handsome husband were very easy on the eyes. When they finished eating, he kissed her, and seemed to melt everything away. It was as if they were the only two people in the universe. Sometimes, Mary wished that they were. Life would be a lot easier that way.

The couple sat for a while as they listened to the sounds of the ocean and enjoyed being in love, in love with both the moment and their spouse. After several minutes of sitting in silence, Wilson pulled Mary down with him to the blanket underneath them. She rolled her body toward his, fitting into his side like a lock and key. 

Wilson stared up at the stars for a while before turning to Mary. "I love you," he said and kissed her cheek.

Mary blushed as she placed her head on top of his muscular chest. "I love you, too. This was just perfect Wilson. I don't know how you did it all, but thanks. You've made me feel a whole lot better."

"Good. That was my intent." They were quiet for a while before Wilson spoke again. "What are you thinking about?"

She sighed and kissed his neck lightly. "You. You and me. Us." Wilson rubbed her back, coaxing her to explain. "I worry…about you. I worry that I'm not going to make it and that you're going to be alone. I worry that you'll get sick of taking care of me. I worry that even though we think we're strong enough to overcome this gigantic obstacle, we can't."

"Don't think like that. You can worry yourself into oblivion over scenarios that could never come up."

"Or they could all happen in an instant Wilson. Things change, dramatically, faster than you ever think."

"I know they can," he responded holding her closely, "but no matter what I'm going to be here for you Mary. I love you so much. What do I need to do to convince you of that? Because whatever it is, I'll do it. It kills me to know that you don't think our love is strong enough."

"I do think our love is strong enough; that's not what I was trying to say. All I was getting at was that I don't know if we are strong enough, I don't know if I am strong enough."

He squeezed her snuggly as he looked up to the heavens for guidance. "I know it is probably an unbelievably hard thing to ask of you with everything you are going through, but I want you to try to be strong…for me. I need you to be here for me later; I need for you to get better. If you keep on thinking that you're not strong enough, then you might trick yourself into believing that that's true."

"I'll try, but it's going to be hard."

He kissed the top of her head. "I know sweetheart, but if for nothing else, do it for me."

"Do you think I'm going to make it?"

His body stiffened and Mary felt it. He never expected her to ask that. "I don't know. What do you think?"

She laughed slightly as tears welled up in her hazel eyes. "That's the one thing I don't let myself think about. I think about the possibility that I might live, and the possibility that I might die, but I've never asked myself what I think is going to happen. I guess I could make an assumption, but I really don't want to know. Not now. But you know what I do think?"

"What?"

"I don't think its anywhere near over. I'm going to have a long road ahead of me, but I think you'll be there the whole way so it will be OK."

"What else do you think about?" he questioned.

"Having a baby." Wilson turned his head so that he could look into her eyes. Some of the things that went through her mind really did shock him. "Not that I want to have a baby yet or anything, but it's George's fault. He told me a while ago, right after we were married I think, that if I were to get pregnant I would have to, um, 'terminate' the pregnancy. He said that it would be nearly impossible, with all of the radiation and everything, for me to carry a baby to term right now, but if somehow I did there would either be severe birth defects or severe complications."

"Ah, but we don't have to worry about that," he said trying to lighten up the situation.

Mary pouted. "I know." Even though they had been matrimonial for almost two months, they still had not yet consummated their marriage. Quickly, she tried to change the subject, not wanting inadvertently start ranting about sex and spoil the moment. "What do you think about Wilson?"

"Besides you?" She nodded. "My dad, and Billy. I constantly think about whether or not I did the right thing with having Billy live with my mother. And I think about my dad being sick a lot, too. He's bedridden and he's not even at the age where most men retire yet. And on top of all that…I can't even imagine being that sick and having your wife move out on you. It would be as if I left you while you were going through all of this. That wouldn't be right. I still can't believe she did that to him."

"Do you think they'll get divorced?"

"Yes," he answered plainly. Mary leaned up and kissed his lips softly. She knew that that upset him; she couldn't see how it wouldn't. "And I think about being angry at my mom, because whether or not I admit it to myself or anyone else, I am. I try not to be, since she is being so great with Billy, but I can't let it go. Since she decided she had to separate from him, I've been furious. She's so disloyal toward him, but it's like she's overcompensating for that by being extra loyal to me. Frankly, I would much rather her be by my father's side than trying to be by mine."

"Maybe they'll get back together." She tried to be optimistic for him. "Maybe he'll get better, and they can un-separate, and things will work out."

"I don't think so, on all three accounts. It seems hopeless." He looked down at her. "You know, when you think about it, my parents situation and our situation are a lot alike. But you're not hopeless Mary. You're strong; you're a fighter and you have been since you were young. Hold on to that. It will only help you in the long run."

She nodded, absorbing his words of wisdom. Mary moved her head so that her lips were even with Wilson's and went in to kiss him. Wilson returned her kiss with amplified fervor, rolling her underneath him. The beach was starting to get cold, but together they were nice and toasty. They kissed like there was no tomorrow, because for all they thought there just might not be. 

When they both ran out of breath and broke the kiss, Wilson went back in for more after a few deep breaths. Mary stopped him, putting her finger to his lips. She wanted him to turn it down for a second. Knowing what Mary meant, he kissed her cheek once more and then lay down next to her. They both looked up at the night sky as they held each other quietly. Sometimes words were not necessary, they were starting to learn, because the connection they were developing was spiritual. They loved each other from the inside out, putting their hearts first above all else.

The transition period between adult and spouse was different than either of them expected, but they liked the struggle. With great struggle came great rewards, and true love is one of the best rewards of all.

A/N: I know that this is a little on the short side, but I still like it. This was something I thought of a while back, and I have to admit that I am using it to stall, but I think it came out quite nice. There was some major character development here, that's for sure. Ah, to be young and in love. I also did a little bit of foreshadowing. Don't know when it will be, but Wilson and his parents…lets just say they'll be making an appearance sometime in the future. Maybe semi-soon, now that I think of it.

What are you thinking about? Please tell me, I am dying to know.


	19. Allegiance

_

A/N: Well, I sort of kind of own Wilson's father. The show gave the name and his occupation, but they never showed him, so this man is mine I guess. Feel free to use the name and the job, but all other character aspects are mine. Yeah, that sounds right.

_

_

_

Monday around noon, Mary and Wilson left the apartment to venture over to Wilson's parents house. Actually, it was just his father's house now, since his mother was still long gone. It pained him to an extreme knowing that he was going to the house that he had grown up in, and his mother would probably never set foot in there again. 

It hurt him even more that his father was sick, and Mary was well aware of that. That was the cause for Mary arranging this impromptu visit to see his father on the end of this long weekend. Wilson rarely ever saw him because it bothered him so much that his father was in pain. He didn't want to have to bear witness to his agony. She knew, though, that it would be better for him if she were there. Everything was better when you're not alone. You are meant to pair off in life- natural course of progression.

They rang the doorbell, Wilson's hand clinging to Mary's, and the practically live-in nurse answered. She ushered them in, making small talk as she led them to Dr. Jeffrey West's bedside. Like father, like son. George had followed in his father's footsteps and entered the world of medicine. His father was an ophthalmologist. It became apparent by what the nurse was saying to them as they walked down the hall that he was excited to see Mary and Wilson together. This was only Mary and Dr. West's fifth meeting in her entire life, and the second time they had seen each other after she and Wilson had gotten married. Frankly, Mary was elated, too. She had always enjoyed him.

The bedroom was musty, but Dr. West was cordial. He had lost some of his mobility, in a sense at least, but had held onto his manners.

"Hello Dr. West," Mary said smiling.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he began sweetly. "Jeffrey, please hon. You're family now; there is no need to be so formal."

She nodded and squeezed Wilson's hand, signaling for him to step forward and say something.

"How are you doing Dad?"

"I guess I could be better, but I'm OK. I'm not important, though. What's more important is you and your wife. How are you both doing? It must be hard for you."

"It is," Wilson answered sincerely, "but we are managing. Taking everything one day at a time I guess."

"Any progress?" he asked looking at Mary.

"Not sure really. I hope so."

"George isn't keeping you informed? You should ask him if you don't know something. Don't be intimidated by him," he said trying to help the young woman out. 

Mary laughed. "Believe me, I am not intimidated by George. I guess I am afraid to ask, though. I don't want him to tell me that I'm not doing well. I'd rather be ignorant."

"Well, ignorance is bliss."

"Not all the time," Wilson interjected. Mary knew what he was getting at- her family. She nudged him with her elbow and he smiled. 

Dr. West smiled, too. "You two remind me so much of myself and my wife, at least in the old days. We were so in love, and it used to be so much fun." He put his head down in shame. "But as you both know, that's changed now. There's nothing I can do about it except, well, fight fire with fire. I guess I should tell you, Wilson, that I've taken your mother out of the will. She doesn't want to live with me, she doesn't get any of my hard earned money."

Mary dropped Wilson's hand and wrapped her arm around his waist. It was time for her to be the good, supportive, and caring wife- unlike her older counterpart who shared her same last name. The elder Mrs. West could learn a thing or two from the younger woman in all of her boys' lives.

"I guess that just means more for you, George, and Billy then," he said trying not to make his action seem so harsh.

"Dad." Wilson said slowly. "We don't need any more. You've given all three of us more than we could ever ask for. But." Mary rubbed Wilson side as she watched him struggle. He was at a loss for words. This was the end of his old family, and he and Mary were in no position to begin to start a new one.

***

Mary sighed heavily and leaned her head against the seat in her car as she got in after her Tuesday doctor's appointments. In the days that followed, Mary actually didn't feel awful while lounging around the house. She had even started to believe that she was somehow getting better. If she didn't feel sick, then she must not be sick anymore. It was as simple as that.

George, however, didn't agree. When she came in for her radiation today, Dr. George told her that he wanted her to come in for a different type of radiation on Friday night, two days from now, in addition to her treatment that day. He told her that she wasn't responding the way he had hoped she would, so internal radiation would be the next plan of action.

Mary was definitely upset, but she was not going to let her emotions get to her yet. At least, that is, until she got home. Once she arrived, though, she found that home was not the problem. The task at hand was to tell Wilson. Mary looked at the clock. He would be home any minute. She knew she shouldn't have spent so much time wallowing in her own self-pity in the car.

Wilson, however, didn't have any pity for Mary, as he walked in the door early that day. Mary tried so hard to keep tears from falling, and held out for much longer than she anticipated. Wilson smiled when he saw her and sat down next to her on the dark blue couch. He kissed her lightly and he sensed that she was a little sad, so he continued his nurturing. He moved his head and started kissing her neck and then moved up to very lightly nibble on her ear. His cheek pressed against hers and he felt tears running down her cheeks.

He pulled back and looked at her; she was crying hysterically at this point. He didn't say anything. He knew that that wasn't necessary. Wilson held Mary tightly to him and rubbed her back gently. She calmed down rather quickly and she pulled away to find out what the meaning behind the water works was.

"I.I.Friday night." a tear rolled down her cheek and Wilson wiped it away. She smiled sadly. "I have to have a different kind of radiation on Friday. Friday night and all day Saturday."

He took her hands in his. "Why so long?"

"It's internal so it isn't as strong, but at the end it'll be stronger than the regular radiation is."

Wilson furrowed his brow. "Internal? How would that-"

She shook her head, indicating that she wasn't going to explain it for him. "I'm going to have to be at the hospital almost all weekend."

Wilson brought her body close to his once again and she rested her head onto his shoulder. "Sweetie it'll be all right. Remember how good last time you were in the hospital worked out? We ended up getting married. This will be fine. Don't get so worried Mary."  

"It's just that I thought I might be getting better," she said frankly. He hugged her even tighter than before and kissed the top of her head. Anything that Wilson did made her feel better, but his touch was the best medicine. 

He rubbed her back as she cried silently on his shoulder. "It's going to be OK. I'm be right there in the hospital with you; I won't leave your side." Wilson knew that these words meant nothing to Mary, but he had to try something. As always, he hated to see her cry. His heart and his head could not take it.

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: Care to know why I took so long to update? All the reviews, everyone kept saying that I was taking to long and complaining about how the Camdens not knowing that Mary has cancer. So I started thinking, maybe I should revise my story plan. I was going to cut some stuff out, hurry other stuff up. I was really distraught over this so I basically put the story out of my mind for a few days and gave up any and all motivation I had to update. But then I decided that I didn't care what some people were saying and it's my story, so I should do what I want to. To be honest, I am mad at myself. Eleven, twelve stories and I still don't have it figured out. Reviews are amazing and a great morale booster, but when it comes down to it I have to write for myself.

_

Anyway, if this chapter is messed up, which I believe it is, please regard it as "temporary fanfic insanity" and call it a day. Oh, and for the person who said that they discuss my story with their friend at school, thank you. That really does mean a great deal to me. See, reviews can be great.

_

_

_


	20. Concrete Wall

_

_

_

Mary and Wilson arrived at the hospital Friday night in a positive state of mind. Everything was going to be OK; this isn't a big deal. Whether or not that was true was highly debatable, but it was still better than the two of them walking in crying together.

They went inside the building, up the elevator to the fifth floor, and then down a couple of hallways until they reached a waiting room that George told Mary she should meet him in. She had hoped that she would be waiting a while for him so she could have a little time alone with her thoughts, but that was to no avail. George was standing in the room waiting for her when the couple walked inside.

He smiled at Mary and Wilson amiably before having Mary sign in and taking her to her room. Hospital rooms always freaked Mary out a little; she wasn't too keen on the less than homey feel they provided. Alas, she had no choice. She sat on the edge of the bed and Wilson stood beside her, taking her hand. She didn't bother to look over at him, and kept her eyes fixed on George.

"So," he asked Mary, "should we chat or can we get started?"

She answered him confidently. "Let's get started." George began to walk closer to Mary, pulling a cart with some instruments on it toward her bedside. He signaled for her to move back on the bed, but she didn't budge. Instead, she looked up at Wilson. "Would you mind stepping outside for a little bit? I'd really rather you not be in here."

He looked at her confused, but then caught on slightly. This was the first treatment that Mary had gotten, not counting the surgery, that Wilson had attended. There were certain aspects of herself that she was not yet ready for Wilson to see, at least not yet. They were close, but they have not gotten to a level of peak physical closeness. Their relationship had not called for it and there was a mutual unspoken decision not to go beyond kissing at this point. 

Wilson smiled at Mary before exiting the room, not having said a word. They both knew that this was a sensitive subject, or would be whenever they found the courage to bring it up, and now was not the time for a discussion of their intimacy level- especially not in front of George.

"I'm not going to ask; it's not my business," George remarked after Wilson left.

Mary sighed. "You're right, it's not." She was not being rude, but earnest with him.

To her delight George did indeed drop it. He proceeded to explain the procedure in further details, showing the tools, and then set her up. He carefully inserted the apparatus that was to be used inside of her, but no matter how cautious he was, it still hurt Mary. As he set it into place, Mary raised her hips off the bed beneath her in pain. George noticed this but continued to do his job. That was what he was there for.  

The whole thing took about ten minutes. When George and Mary were done, George went out to fetch his little brother in the hallway. Wilson, however, wasn't ready to go in just yet.

"Wait a second. Would you mind explaining to me what's going on? She's told me nothing and I don't like not knowing."

"If she doesn't want to tell you then I'm not supposed to tell you."

"But I'm not asking about Mary," he said strongly, "I am asking about the radiation- purely from a scientific standpoint."

George ran his fingers through his hair. "It's called brachytherapy. A small, sealed source of radiation is placed inside her body, where it will slowly leak out the medication she needs for twenty-four hours. It doesn't sound that great, but it's relatively harmless- especially compared to the regular type of radiation she has been getting recently."

"That doesn't sound too pleasant," Wilson commented.

"It's not, so be nice to her." George patted Wilson on the shoulder. "She'll be fine. This really isn't a big deal at all. Let's go back inside."

George and Wilson walked back into the room where they found Mary squirming about in the bed. She had a thin hospital gown on now, different from when Wilson saw her before, and she just looked funny. Wilson could tell that she was refusing to look up at her as she continually fidgeted around.

"Are you all right?" Wilson asked her.

Mary looked over at George. "You're in pain, right?" he asked his patient. She nodded and he approached her. "What's the pain like? How does it hurt?" She searched for words and he could plainly see that she was uncomfortable. George turned back to Wilson, stared at him, and Wilson walked out the door again without a word.

Mary sighed. "I hate myself."

George pulled up a chair next to Mary. "Don't hate yourself. Now, talk to me. Are you starting to think you're not going to be able to do this? Is this pain that bad?"

"It feels…I don't know. Tight."

"That's normal," he told her, relieved that what she was experiencing wasn't anything completely detrimental. "The radiation will do that to you. Not this radiation, the regular radiation. Can you hack it?" Again, she nodded. "OK, good. Well, you were my last stop for the night. I'm done working until Monday. I'll stay with you and Wilson for a little while if you want me to, though."

"No, that's OK. You've been working all day; I don't know how you do it. Go home and get some rest."

He smiled at her. "OK, but I'll be back tomorrow some time to check on you. There's no way of getting rid of me for good."

Mary laughed, thanked George, and he was out the door. Wilson reentered after George left, and Mary sighed heavily. Even though she knew George was right, she still hated herself right now. She shouldn't be pushing Wilson away. Actually, she should be doing the reverse, but the whole situation was very rough and touchy.

He sat down in the chair that George was in before and Mary picked up his hand. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," she answered bluntly.

"Are you sure?"

Mary squeezed his hand. "Yes."

Wilson looked into Mary's eyes. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"I don't feel comfortable."

"Comfortable with what? Telling me what's wrong?"

"No, that's what's wrong, me not feeling comfortable. Now can we please just forget about it and change the subject?"

Wilson sighed. "Fine. Can I ask you how you're doing?"

"I'm cold," she said openly.

Wilson smiled and stood up, walking over to the section of the room where they had dumped their belongings when they first walked inside. He pulled a navy sweatshirt out of a bag for Mary and walked over to her with it. Wilson slipped it over Mary's head and adjusted it on her body so it covered her the way it was supposed to. 

Mary smiled and breathed deeply into the neck of the oversized shirt. "It smells like you."

"Are you saying that I smell?" Wilson said jokingly.

"Sort of, I guess, but you smell good. I like the way you smell. It makes me feel warm inside."

The cold look in Wilson's eyes escaped. "You know what else I love about you? You're innocence. That's what you are; you're innocent."

"I am not," she said defensively. 

He stood up and kissed the top of her head lightly. "I think it's sweet…and very sexy."

Mary grabbed both of Wilson's hands. "Speaking of sexy…"

He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her wince as the slight movement on the bed rocked her body. "Do you really want to do this now? Here?"

Mary thought about it for a second. She was confused; he understood what she was going to bring up, but shot her down immediately. Still, this was not how she had pictured their talk either. "No, I guess not. But soon?" she asked hopefully. Mary felt like this conversation was like a big concrete wall that neither of them could get past. They kept running into it face-first, with no regard for the shock and pain that always caused them.

"Sure," he answered quietly.

Mary and Wilson sat for a wile in the room, talking but not really saying anything of substance. Conversation, however, was better than none at all. Around 8:45, though, nearly 4 hours after George had left, Mary was starting to get tired. Wilson realized this and told her to lie down, but she still looked very uncomfortable. 

"You all right?"

She nodded and accompanied by that was a yawn. Wilson got up from the bed, walked to the other side, and sat down again. He kicked his shoes off and got into the tiny bed next to Mary. She snuggled into him instantly, leaning her head against his chest but keeping the rest of her body straight. George had instructed her earlier not to move around too much, so she had kept almost perfectly still. 

Wilson wrapped his arms around Mary and rubbed the side of her arm slightly with his right hand. As he leaned his head against hers, he felt her lips lightly graze his neck. He smiled and lifted one of her hands to his lips. "I love you Mary."

"I love you, too. Good night."

*

Wilson awoke the next morning with Mary still asleep at his side. Luckily, Mary was not guarding his arm with his watch on it. He lifted his wrist toward his face and read the time, 9:24. He sighed and looked down at his wife. He knew that she was dead sleep by the way she was leaning against him and he shallow breathing. He closed his eyes again, trying to get some sleep. That didn't work, though, so he laid there thinking about Mary. Without even realizing it, he kept one hand tenderly and constantly rubbing her body as he was deep in thought. 

Mary was in and out of being awake for the rest of the day. Periodically, nurses would come in to check her vital signs and would smile happily at Wilson. They all thought that he was a good husband, especially since he was trapped underneath Mary's body. 

After one of the nurses left, Wilson looked at his watch again. 2:15. Mary stirred lightly against him and reached her hand up to rub her eyes. "Wilson…" she mumbled.

"How are you doing sweetheart?"

"Fine. Tired," she responded sluggishly. 

He caressed her cheek. "Sleep then. You still have a few more hours."

She nodded and conked out again. Wilson sighed and held her body close to his. She was so precious and special. He seemed to be captivated by her beauty, and in constant awe of everything she did and the way she lived her life. Even though she was sick, she rarely every acted like it unless it was unavoidable, and he was so proud of her that she could be that strong. Wilson kissed the top of her head. Not only did she did she posses all of those amazing characteristics, but she was his, too. He smiled to himself for a moment. Someone up there must really like him. He felt like the luckiest man in the world.

 _

 _

 _

 _

 _

A/N: So yes, in case you are wondering I am going to explore the sex thing more. Why? No, not because sex sells, but because that is the direction I have written myself into. I already have the next chapter written (I've had it done for months now) and that has the sex factor in it, and the one after that will, too. Still haven't decided what I am going to do with that. There are the obvious two choices I have, and I am leaning toward one, but I don't know how I am going to execute it. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

_

_

_

_

_

Your reviews really lifted my spirits. I needed those.

_

_

_


	21. The Closeness Factor

_

_

_

That Monday, Mary was home all by herself. Wilson didn't have all that much time coming to him, and although Mary needed him, his boss apparently did, too. Mary moped around pretty much the entire day, thinking not of her illness but of her relationship with her husband. There was definitely something odd about it, but she couldn't figure out what. The only thing she knew was that she loved Wilson more than she could ever express. Well, she wanted to try to _express_ it, and she thought that he did too, but due to her condition they would probably have to wait a while. That really bothered Mary, and she just assumed that it bothered him as well. She felt like it was the one thing keeping them apart; that was why it was so important. Until they had _expressed their love_, Mary didn't think she could consider them to be close, at least not as close as she had hoped to be with him by now.

That was the other thing that was bothering her about the whole subject. They had been married for over two and a half months and hadn't even shared one sexual experience. Sensual, tons, but nothing sexual. Mary began to think that maybe it was Wilson. Maybe he just didn't want to do that. Maybe his desires weren't as strong as hers. Maybe, even, that his past had turned him off from the whole idea of having sex with someone- even if that person was his own wife.

One thing she was sure of, though, was that she wanted to. She was scared to death, in fact, but that almost made it more enticing. But it wasn't even the pleasure that made Mary want to indulge in Wilson so badly. It was about her strive for normalcy. Having cancer at twenty-two wasn't normal, keeping her marriage and life a secret wasn't normal, her relationship with George wasn't normal, and neither was her sexual relationship with her husband. That was one thing Mary had power over to make normal, and doing so wouldn't have any repercussions or consequences are far as she could see. 

All of this thinking was interrupted by the only thing that could completely and totally end anything and everything sexual- Wilson's mother and Billy at the front door. Mary had just rolled out of bed when she answered the door, and although she had not been sleeping it was apparent that Mary's mother-in-law had noticed this. Either she had it written all over her face, her hair was messed up- something had to have let her know. But at any rate, Mary was certain that she knew because Mrs. West sent Billy into his bedroom as soon as they stepped inside and sat down on the couch to talk with Mary.

They sat facing each other, and Mary desperately wished that she had been sleeping before and hadn't heard the doorbell. She was never all that fond of Wilson's mother, but the more she got to know her the more she didn't seem to like her very much. She didn't necessarily do anything to Mary; there was just something about the woman that turned Mary off. Wilson was almost the same way, and it was his own mother, so Mary reasoned there must be something not quite right with the lady.

"How did the radiation go?" Mrs. West asked. "Are you all right?" She was obviously concerned, but it was a weird kind of concern. Mary couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but it was just strange the way she asked her.

"The radiation was OK. Wilson stayed with me the whole time so that helped." Mrs. West smiled. She was proud of her son, and that was a good quality for a mother to have. At least that wasn't a weird. "And I'm fine. Well, I'm not fine, but I'm fine. I'm just really tired, but other than that I am doing OK."

"Oh, well you look tired dear." Mary knew it. "I hope it was all right that I brought Billy over here unannounced. It's just that he wanted to see you and his daddy so badly. I guess his grandma just isn't enough for him." Jealousy? Was that what repulsed her? Mary didn't think so. "Of course if you're too tired…"

"No, that's fine. I just lounged around all day so I'll be OK."

"Well, that's good. I don't want you getting too tired. You have to stay well, you're playing with all three of my boys' hearts." Mary looked at her sort of strangely, so she clarified for her. "My two sons and my grandson. All three of them are quite fond of you." Mary finally figured it out. As Mrs. West appeared to bite her tongue in order to hold back an addition to her previous statement, it was clear to Mary. Mrs. West didn't think too highly of her and probably resented her. That was why Mary automatically didn't like her. Her mother-in-law hated her, only another thing for Mary to add to her list of problems.

"I'll be fine with Billy," Mary said getting back on track with the conversation. "Besides, Wilson will be home in about three hours so if I need him to he can take over then."

Mrs. West nodded, told Mary she hoped she felt better, and then left. Mary walked into Billy's bedroom and he sprung up off the floor and over to her in half of a second. He wrapped his increasingly lengthening arms around Mary's waist, causing slight discomfort although she did not say anything to him. Billy was so happy to see her again. It had been over a week since she saw him last. Most of the time, Wilson intercepted visits with Billy and squashed the plans before they ever got started. Billy went to school during the day, and at school there were germs- germs that Mary was no used to. Wilson did not want Billy getting Mary sick while she was undergoing her treatment. The last thing she needed was to contract a cold or to come down with a nasty case of influenza. The way he saw it, having Billy around Mary all the time was just too risky.

Mary hugged Billy back tightly. She really loved him with a kind of love that made her feel whole inside. When he was around, it reminded Mary that she was making some sort of a difference in someone's life and that she mattered. Most people usually wanted her gone, and for Billy to want her around was a nice thing to experience. 

"Mary, are you all better now?"

"Not yet sweetheart, but every time I go to the hospital and your Uncle George gives me some more medicine I get closer to getting better." Mary tried to explain it to him, but it was really hard. She watched as Billy tried to process the information, as he so often did, and she felt bad for him. He usually was only told snippets of things, lies really, to satisfy his curiosity and was pushed out of the room. The only thing he had been hearing for the past few months was "Mary is very sick." Other than that, no one really discussed it with him.

However, Billy knew a lot more than anyone realized. The reason why he always asked Mary if she was OK was that he knew too much. He had heard everyone talking about cancer all the time, so when he had free computer time at school he asked his teacher how to spell it and looked it up on the Internet. The teacher looked at him strangely, peering over his shoulder and onto his monitor for most of the time in the computer lab that day. While most children were looking up things about dogs or their favorite video game, little Billy West was looking up cancer. The students were only allowed to search through a children-geared database, so most of what he got was a scientific definition. Being eight years old, he didn't understand what most of the words meant, but from what he could tell it didn't sound good. The way the words read off the paper was the same way that everyone seemed to talk in his house. Mary wasn't just sick, she was very sick, and this cancer thing was pure evil.

What Mary and Billy both didn't know was that Wilson knew that all of that happened, yet did not tell Mary or anyone else and certainly did not act upon it. Billy's teacher called Wilson at work during her lunch break that day and told Wilson that Billy was looking up cancer. She asked if someone in the family was sick, perhaps one of Billy's grandparents, but Wilson was reluctant to give her any sort of incriminating information. He didn't want to be judged about anything. Nonetheless, he was a very private person and so was Mary. He didn't want to divulge anything to a nosy thirty-something broad who knew next to nothing about their situation. On some level he thought that she should know, but told her nothing and merely explained that he would take care of it- which he still hadn't done. If he gave her just one detail, he would have to tell her everything, down to the facts of him being a teen father and Billy's real mother dying.

This was the stage Mary was at when she played with her stepson that afternoon. Cancer patient, kept in the dark, hated by her mother-in-law, completely exhausted, feeling nauseous, and last but not least, all sexed up and raring to go. That was the story of newlywed Mary Camden's life.

Mary played with Billy until Wilson came home that night. They had a lot of fun together laughing and talking about all sorts of things. Billy was ecstatic and Mary could tell it. But alas, Wilson came home and ruined everything.

He walked inside quietly, trying not to disturb her if she was asleep. When he heard voices, though, he knew that she had to be awake and was excited to see her. "Mare?" he called throughout the apartment. There was no answer, but he could hear her voice. He looked in the bedroom for her, but she was not in there. Starting to get worried, Wilson heard her speak again. She had to be in Billy's bedroom. Wondering what she was doing in there, Wilson opened the door to the youngster's room in search of his lovely bride.

When he opened the door, her back was toward him, but Billy was looking right at his father. "Dad!" he said excitedly and ran over to give his father a hug.

"Hi son," Wilson said half-heartedly. He wondered what Billy was doing there and why Mary wasn't resting. "Why aren't you with Grandma?"

"She dropped me off so that I could play with Mary," he told his father proudly.

Wilson looked curiously at Mary and she nodded at him, walking over to give Wilson his welcome-home hug. He squeezed her tightly. She seemed so fragile in his arms. "How long has he been here?"

"A little over three hours."

Wilson's eyes bugged out of his head. Three hours was a long time to spend playing when you have just undergone radiation for two days. "Are you all right? Are you tired? You must be tired," he said in one breath.

Mary smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "I'm fine, really. I haven't been moving around or anything like that, we just sat and played with his toys. I can handle that."

"Are you sure? I don't want you getting tired and getting sick. And I don't want him getting you sick. I'm..." His voice trailed as he searched for a way to finish his sentence. 

"Being overly cautious," she finished for him. She loved Wilson with all her heart, but most of the time she felt like he was smothering her. Just because she was sick didn't mean she couldn't live a little. She liked to get out and experience things, and being sick had kind of ruled out the possibility of finding things to experience. But being with Wilson ruled out the possibility of experiences coming to find her.

"I'm sorry," he said seriously, then turned to Billy. "Why don't you go and watch some TV?" Billy grumbled and walked out of the room as Wilson turned his attention back to his wife. "Now, Mary, are you sure you don't want to go and sleep?" Mary rolled her eyes at him. "What? What am I doing wrong?"

Mary leaned against him. "You're not doing anything wrong, it's just that…I'm at a point where I'm getting frustrated. I don't want to sleep, or take it easy, or be sick anymore. I just want to have a normal life, and a normal marriage."

Wilson was confused. Everything Mary said lately was a little weird to him. "Why isn't our marriage normal?"

Mary thought for a second before answering him. "Maybe 'normal' wasn't the right word." She snuggled closely into his body. "Our marriage is wonderful, but there is one aspect, one very important aspect, that's missing."

Wilson thought about what she said, and it took a second for it to dawn on him what she was trying to get at. It had been a very long day and he wasn't even thinking she had been talking about that. His eyes fluttered and his jaw dropped when he realized her intentions. "I, uh, well, we…"

Mary giggled and leaned up to kiss his cheek lightly. He looked so adorable that it was hard for her to stand it. Frankly, she wanted him more than ever. "We don't have to talk about this now," she said slightly appeasing his mind, "but later?"

Wilson kissed her lips tentatively. "Fine, later." Wilson really wasn't all that "fine" about talking about sex with her, but if she was ready to discuss it now surely he should be. After all, it was her body, not his, and she was the one who was sick. Still, knowing all that, it didn't make things any easier on him.  He had more love for Mary than he knew what to do with, but the thought of that sort of thing made him a little uneasy, for the same reasons it had made him uneasy since they were married two and a half months ago.

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: This chapter has been written for…probably about two months or so now. Sometimes I'll do that when I'm bored, right a later chapter I am inspired for. They usually end up being my better chapters because they are not rushed and by the time they get uploaded I've reread them for errors about 15 times. With that being said, I think some of the stuff might be a little repeated from previous chapters. I could have changed it, but I liked the chapter as is.

_

_

You love my Mary's marriage angst. You want to review and tell me all about how much you love it. I am a good hypnotist. 


	22. Nothing is Perfect

_

_

Mary closed the front door after Mrs. West and Billy walked out. Wilson's mother had come to pick up her grandson under Wilson's urging. Their phone call was strange and Wilson was very firm with her. To be honest, it kind of scared Mary a little. Wilson had a good amount of anger inside of him. She was just happy that none of it was directed at her.

Mary turned the deadbolt and then spun around to face Wilson who was standing behind her. "Now what?" She grabbed his hand and started playing with his fingers.

He laughed. When Mary had her heart set on something, there was basically nothing Wilson could do but give in. "OK, you win." He grasped her hand, stopping her fidgeting fingers, and pulled her over to the couch. She sat down next to him with her thigh brushing his. They had been much closer than this before, but the contact seemed to make him uneasy at the moment. He scouted away from her a little and looked at her knees, then up her face. "So…" he started, his voice shaking. 

Mary took the reins and Wilson's hand. "I'm ready. I wasn't for a long time, and that was fine because there was no pressure or strong desire, but now I'm pressuring myself. I've been thinking about this a lot, since my radiation actually, and I know that it will bring us closer."

"Aren't we close enough?" he asked sheepishly.

She smiled. "You scared?"

"No, not exactly. But-"

Mary cut him off. "I don't feel like I can talk about my cancer with you- not really talk about it. The only thing we've said to each other about it was regarding my next radiation treatment. I want the conversations to go deeper. I think once you explore that part of me, we explore each other, that it will be less uncomfortable and embarrassing to discuss certain things." She lowered her head and her voice. "I want to talk about it now. I'm ready. And I want to be able to tell you what's going on with me, because keeping it inside really isn't helping any."

"Well then can't we just talk?" he offered. Mary glared at him so he clarified his statement. "I don't know Mary. I'm afraid I'll hurt you. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, especially in your sick condition. What if I do something and I make your sicker, or there are medical complications from something?"

"But what if none of that happens?"

"But what if it does?" he countered, thoroughly convinced that this was not a good idea. "It's not that I don't want you, Mary, but the radiation hurt you and that wasn't even supposed to hurt. I know that you'll probably be very, um, sensitive, and I don't want you to end up being completely turned off from the whole experience. It could be amazing if we wait. That's why I haven't pressured you or tried anything these past months; I was waiting until it was safe."

"I hate to tell you this, but waiting until it's 'safe', as you say, could be the rest of my life. There are long-term side effects from the radiation and everything that will never really go away." She squeezed his hand as tears welled up in her eyes. "Besides, I'm sick of waiting. I have today and I don't know about tomorrow. I want to enjoy life now, while I still have to opportunity to."

That was what did it for Wilson. He still though that he was right, but frankly she was too. He didn't want o be holding her back from experiencing everything there was to experience in her life. He wanted her to have full access to everything, even to himself. He leaned in and kissed Mary passionately, giving her the long awaited answer. A smile crept up on her lips as she kissed him full force. The wife always gets her way.

***

Wilson was as gentle with Mary as he could possibly be, but he was correct in her assumption after all. There were plenty of painful tears, whimpering, and sharp breaths, but everything leading up to that point was pure heaven for both of them. Mary never imagined anything could be that wonderful. This proved that true love was the most powerful aphrodisiac. 

***

Mary lay in bed with Wilson spooned against her for hours, enjoying the feeling of having his skin on hers. His muscular chest was so soothing against her bare back.  She was sore for a long while, but as that slowly subsided she drifted off into a soothing slumber for the night. Wilson joined her; they were both tuckered out. Mary had given herself to Wilson and it was perfect beyond words, just like she had hoped it would be. In their sleep, Mary and Wilson held each other tightly. That day, that past weekend, all of their anxiety melted away in a total of forty-five exhausting yet pleasing minutes. Nothing could have been any better. 

AT least, that was what they wanted to believe. When the phone rang in the middle of the night, Mary was worried. Phone calls that came after midnight were never good news. Wilson stepped out of the bedroom after he answered, then came back in quickly. Mary sat up when he came back in holding the comforter around her body. The look on his face only confirmed Mary's worst fears. His eyes bugged out of his head and he appeared to be overly calm, overly being the key word. "Overly calm" was never a good thing; everything in moderation.

"That was George," he said morosely. "My dad had another heart attack. He's in the hospital."

Mary sprang out of bed and rushed over to Wilson's side. She was still unclothed, but she didn't care. Mary wrapped Wilson in her tight embrace, putting a hand behind his head and stroking gently. "It'll be OK," she said, even though she had a feeling that it wouldn't be. Wilson pulled away from her and stared into her eyes, afraid to move. "Let's go," Mary commanded. She was forced to take the initiative in leading him out of the apartment and to his father's side- or at least as close as he would be allowed to get to his father.

Mary pulled away from him and Wilson sat on the edge of the bed staring at the blank wall. She went into the closet, got clothes for herself and Wilson. He was too out of it to find himself some pants and a shirt. She came out of the closet in a sweatshirt and sweatpants with Wilson's garments in her hand. She handed them to him and he pulled them on slowly. 

Her heart broke as she watched him. One thing she knew, though, was that it was his turn for some nurturing now. He had been doing it for months three months, ever since they ran into each other at the hospital they were racing to get to at that moment. Mary knew all along that there would be a time when Wilson needed her to take care of him; she just never thought it would be this soon.

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: This chapter was a tad short, but here endeth all the sex stuff. I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. No more direct talk about it, I don't think anyway. Maybe a little in the future, but I haven't written that far ahead yet. This chapter was OK. It was kind of hard to write, though, because I was trying not to be too explicit or anything while still getting my mature point across. I think  achieved that, though. At least, I hope I did.

Next chapter will be at the hospital. Maybe go a little bit beyond that. Story wise, I only have a few more major conflicts to go. I could see this reaching thirty chapters, though. I have this conflict, involving the hospital, then another one after that, then my "winding down" conflict, then the whole thing stemming off ending one. Then that'd be about it. It seems like a lot but in my head it's not. About three more big conflicts to go. This hospital thing is going to be a lot of Wilson- or maybe a lot of Mary reacting to Wilson.

Whatever, you probably all think I'm nuts now because you have no clue what I am talking about. It makes sense in my head, and sometimes that's all that matters.

_

_

_

Yes, I am a little crazy. Promise me you'll still review?

_  


	23. Keeping Up Appearances

_

_

_

_

Mary and Wilson entered the waiting room at quarter to two in the morning. It was completely empty, luckily for them, except for Billy and George occupying the entire side of the room. One wouldn't think that two people could take up nearly an entire half of a decent sized waiting room, but yet there they were.

Mary smiled at George sympathetically as they entered and Wilson went over to him. Mary followed on his heals, grasping Wilson's hand when she caught up with him.

"What is Billy doing here?" Mary asked George before Wilson got a chance to say anything to him. 

"Well, Mom called me. I could hear Billy in the background saying that he wanted to come, so I swung by and got him on my way over here." He turned toward Wilson. "I hope that you don't mind or anything. Mom didn't." Wilson shook his head, saying that he didn't.

"Why isn't your mother here? Why would she let Billy come and not go herself?"

Wilson and George were quiet, not intending to answer her reasonable question. They both knew the answer and did not want to discuss what it meant at a time like this. "How's dad?" Wilson asked.

George lowered his head and sighed. "He had a massive heart attack; as bad if not worse than his last one. They're not telling me much. A nurse said that they are trying to stabilize him, and once that happens he'll be OK, but they're having a tough time doing that."

Wilson nodded and Mary wrapped her arm around his waist. She felt so bad for him. Mary felt someone tugging at the back of her shirt and turned around. Billy was staring behind her with big, brown puppy dog eyes. "Oh Billy," she remarked. He looked like he was going to start crying any second. She released Wilson and took Billy's hand, walking over with him to the line of chairs against the wall.

Mary sat down and pulled Billy onto her lap. His bottom lip quivered but he refused to cry in front of Mary. He didn't want her to think of him as a baby. It wouldn't have mattered if he did cry, though, because Mary was not really paying attention to him. Her eyes were fixed on Wilson and George. They both looked so upset and concerned. Wilson looked like he was yelling at George, too. This all was not good. 

A few moments later, George rushed off down the hallway and Wilson plopped into the chair next to Mary. He picked up Mary's hand and Billy put his hand on top of their union. Wilson smiled at the both of them forlornly.

"So?" Mary asked. "Where did George go?"

"I sent him to go find out some stuff. He works here; he's a doctor. He should be able to get some information," he said sounding angry.

"Don't be mad at him," Mary said. "He's just as frazzled as you are."

Wilson sighed. "I'm not mad at him."

"At me?" Billy piped in.

Wilson ruffled Billy's hair. "No. I'm not mad at you either." Wilson paused and reflected. "I could never be this mat at you, no matter what you did."

Mary decided she had to say something. Wilson being this angry with his mother was not healthy. "Wilson, I-" Wilson glared at her and she stopped speaking. She pulled her hand away from his as she looked in the opposite direction and Billy's hand fell flat on the arm of the chair.

Wilson stood up emotionally and walked toward the door. "I'm going to take a walk," he called out as he pushed open the door. Tears of anguish welled up in Mary's eyes over him leaving, and she quickly wiped them away before Billy could see.

He was watching her too intently, though, not to notice. "Is Daddy mad at you?"

Mary smiled at him so he wouldn't get the wrong idea. "Dad's just a little upset right now…over a lot of things. It isn't just one thing. You're not the cause of any of it, though, so don't you worry."

"I'm not worried about Daddy, I'm worried about Grandpa. He's sick, right?" Mary nodded. "Is he going to be OK?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," she said to appease the young boy's mind.

"Are you going to be OK?" Billy asked.

Mary furrowed her brow. "What?"

"You're sick, too, right? Are you going to be OK?"

This question Mary had not yet asked herself. She thought for a second, not of the real answer, but what she should say to him. The real answer she didn't want to know, unless if it was a yes. "I really hope so Billy." Billy wrapped his arms tightly around Mary's shoulders and she pulled him in closer to her. 

***

Wilson wandered aimlessly around the hospital, finally stopping in front of the nursery. This was where he had met Mary a few months ago. This was where life began, and this was where it all started. He couldn't help but wonder though if another life was ending. He had a longing feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was loosing something. He hoped that it was just the idea of his parents ever being together, which was tearing him up inside, but he didn't think it was that.

Wilson looked in on all of the children in there. Billy wasn't born in this hospital, but it still reminded him of the day he was born. Billy was such a happy baby, and Wilson was such a sad father. Eight years later, he was still a sad father. A sad and angry father. Wilson reflected upon the last ten years of his life. From freshman year in high school until now, just about anything that can happen to a person had happened to him. He had had a child, married twice, lived in about five different states, had good jobs, gotten fired, graduated from college and high school, had fallen in love twice, and had an unofficial falling out with one of his parents. He knew that when people looked at him it appeared as if he had everything together, but he didn't. He never really had. 

I should go into acting, he though as he pulled himself away from the glass window and back to the waiting room. The past ten years he had been acting OK, and he was still doing it now. Everything was a mess and no one knew. Not Mary, not George, not anyone. The only person he thought who might be able to understand was his father, and as he approached the cardiac area of the hospital he could feel him slipping away. 

And if he lost his father, then what? Would he still be able to put up his façade? Keeping up appearances was already becoming so difficult; he didn't think he could do it for everyone anymore. He couldn't even fathom continuing to do it for himself.

_

_

_  
_  
_  
_  
_  
_  
_

A/N: I know that not much really happened and it was more character development, but I wanted to end it here. Sort of a cliffhanger I guess, but not really. I didn't leave it like "Well, the doctor said…" or anything. That would be cruel and unusual punishment. Not that I am always a big fan of the justice system, but that one works for us. 

Next chapter will be the outcome of the heart attack.

_

_

_

_

Wilson's mother is about as evil as reviews can be good.

_

_


	24. Sometimes When Life Closes a Door

_

_

When Wilson reappeared the waiting room, Mary rushed over to his side, nearly pushing Billy off of her lap. George looked on as Mary stood in front of Wilson, pleading with her eyes for him to say of do something that would allude to him being all right for the moment. He did no such thing, but sat down in the chair next to George.

Mary sat down next to him and put her hand on top of his. He pulled his hand away from hers and looked up at her.

"Mare, please. Just…" He didn't know how to finish his sentence.

Mary wasn't stupid. "OK, OK. I'm sorry. I was just trying to-"

"I know. But I don't need you to- not yet anyways."

Mary suddenly felt out of place. She was waiting to find out about the condition of a man she had no ties to, without Wilson, and her husband didn't need her. What was she doing there? She sighed and leaned back in her chair, waiting for some sort of news to come their way. Really, it was none of her business, but she was still eager to know.

They were all starting to grow impatient and began to worry. George was the worst out of all of them. He knew, from a doctor's standpoint, that if you didn't here anything for a while and they kept telling you that things weren't good yet, it was not a good sign. This whole experience was a bad indication of things to come. As he sat there, though, he began to mentally prepare himself for his father's death. He could feel it coming and, judging by how things were going, he knew Wilson would need him to be there. Wilson obviously didn't want Mary right now.

A nurse came in though one of the doors at the front of the room and looked around for George; they had had a conversation earlier. It didn't take long for her to find him, but she seemed to be slightly drained from excess stress. Plus, it was three in the morning. George stood up and walked toward her, followed by Wilson and then Mary and Billy.

"Um, I'm sorry. I…the doctor will be out in a second for you," she told the family.

Sure enough, a professional looking man in a white lab coat stepped into the room. "Wests?" They nodded. "We tried to stabilize him, but we weren't successful. He had a stroke and despite our best efforts, we lost him. I'm sorry."

Wilson and George's faces both turned the same shade of gray. Wilson turned to Mary, still in an extreme state of shock, and looked into her eyes. Mary reached out to him, sad in her own right, and pulled him in closely.

He was stiff in her arms, not moving to fit her body at all. She cringed at the thought of being in his position, and of everything that this would entail. She was exhausted, and the next few days were definitely going to be long and draining.

Billy wrapped his young arms around Mary's waist and refused to let go. It caused her some slight discomfort but she didn't say anything. After all, he had to be in more pain than she was.

Mary reached out and grabbed George's hand, squeezing it tightly and looking up at his face. He was upset, understandably so, and Mary didn't like seeing everyone like this. This was not the way everything was supposed to be. She liked the way things were before; she was comfortable with all of it. Now everything was going to change. She couldn't see how it would not.

***

Home was worse than the hospital, but better in a sense. They were more relaxed, that's for sure. When Mary and Wilson finally arrived back at the apartment, both of them were exhausted. They walked into the bedroom and without changing their clothes got right into bed.

It was close to five o'clock in the morning, and Wilson was purposely not trying to sleep because he had to call into work soon to tell them he wasn't coming in. He lay there staring up at the ceiling for about a half an hour. Mary was so tired that she could barely see straight, but she couldn't sleep when Wilson was acting like that. He was so detached and was hurting so badly that it bothered her soul. Eventually, she rolled over and looked at him. He saw her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't respond right away. 

"You see that spot on the ceiling?" he asked as he pointed upwards. Mary looked up and nodded. "It kind of looks like Abraham Lincoln. Don't you think?"

Mary smiled at him and tears welled up in his eyes. "Honey, come here." She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tightly to her. She lay on her back and Wilson rolled onto his side. Mary pulled Wilson's head into her bosom and he stayed there. Mary rubbed his head as he leaned into her, taking full advantage of their new intimacy level. 

She kissed the top of his head repeatedly, but he didn't move or show any emotion. All she wanted him to do was to cry, or yell, or something; he was silent and still. Mary closed her eyes against her will and slept for fifteen minutes. When she woke up, his head being on top of her startled her. She was completely out of it from sheer exhaustion, and she felt some sort of movement on her chest. She wasn't sure if she jumped when she saw Wilson, or if her heart was beating fast because of the astonishment. She quickly relieved, though, that she wasn't the one who was moving at all. Wilson was shaking.

She squeezed him and he stopped for a second, only to start trembling again. Mary bent her head down as far as it would go and kissed his cheek, and he finally sat up and moved off of her. Mary sat up, too, and kissed his lips sensually, but he pulled away. 

"I love you," she whispered before he got up off the bed.

He cleared his throat and studied her face. "I-I…I love you, too," he choked out.

Wilson took the cordless phone off the nightstand and walked out of the room. Mary sighed heavily and fell back on the bed in sheer exhaustion. She didn't like it when he was like this; it shook the delicate balance that was there marriage. Mary covered her face with her hands and began to sob. The last twenty-four hours had been the most unbelievable, joyous, and upsetting than she had probably had in her entire life. Tomorrow was shaping up to be too glorious, either. But, then again, there is always the next day.

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: Yes, I realize this was unbelievably short. So sue me. What I was aiming for was to put this chapter and the last chapter into one good chapter, but it didn't quite work out that way. I kind of rushed to put something up for you guys, since it was approaching the one-week mark and all. This chapter was no only short, though, but kind of bad. Oh well; I'll have better. :0) 

A little heads up to you loyal readers out there: Wilson isn't going to quite recover from his father's death. It's going to shake him hard. And, attached to the rest of his family issues, it's going to be tough. Then the ending, man will he have some emotional turmoil. Interpret any way you wish; I'm not giving anything else away.

_

_

Reviews can aide the grieving process over a fictional character.  
_

_


	25. It Slams a Window

_

_

_

That morning, Wilson called George. He quickly came over, eager to get out of the emptiness in his own house, and he and Wilson began to make plans regarding their father's wake and funeral. They took off after a few hours, leaving Mary all by herself, to go and meet with her Dr. West's lawyer. Mary sat on the couch for hours, anticipating their arrival. When they finally did get back home, they appeared apathetic and stunned.

"Where did you go?" Mary asked Wilson. "You can't just leave without telling me where you are going; I was worried sick."

"Cell phone," he said distressed, implying that Mary could have called him if she was so set on knowing his whereabouts. Mary pointed to the kitchen table where Wilson's phone was on. He shook his head. "We were at the lawyers. I've just inherited a little over a million dollars."

Mary's eyes bugged out of her head. "The both of you combined?"

"Each," George clarified. "Dad had a lot of investments, and his practice did well. We never knew he had that much, but frankly I wasn't all that surprised."

The two brothers went over and sat next to Mary on the couch. "The wake is tomorrow, funeral on Thursday," Wilson explained morosely. Mary sighed and reached her hand out to him. "What?"

"How are you doing?"

"I don't want to talk about it now."

Mary was shocked by Wilson's apparent belligerency that day. He certainly was continuing to be very hostile; something that was starting to annoy her more than it concerned her. She loved Wilson more than life itself, but she felt as if he was going out of his way to make it tougher for her to love him. She liked him a lot more when things were easy.

***

The wake was uneventful, and so was true about the funeral. Mary accompanied Wilson to both events, though he didn't really communicate or anything with her while she was there. To be honest, she was starting to feel a little dejected. She understood that everyone had to grieve in his or her own way, but it was killing Mary to see her husband acting like this. 

After the funeral, George and Billy came back to the apartment with Mary and Wilson. This was when all the action started. They hadn't been there for too long before the doorbell rang. Mary got up and answered it, smoothing out her black skirt as she stood.

"Marie…" It was Wilson and George's mother. Normally, Mary wouldn't have been surprised to see her, but she hadn't been around for the past few days. She hadn't come to the hospital, consoled her sons, and didn't attend the wake or funeral. 

She pushed past Mary and into the room without so much as a word to her. "Boys," she said when she spied her sons. "I'm so glad I found you."

"Where else would we be?" George said.

"And were you really looking for us?" Wilson countered.

The two men stood up, ready for battle, and Mary stepped back. She didn't want to be caught in the middle of this. 

"Yes, I was. I have something I need to tell you."

Mary went over to Billy and put her hands on Billy's shoulders and turned him toward his bedroom. "Come on Billy. Let's go play something." Mary didn't think he needed to stick around for this conversation, and neither did she.

"Is everything OK Mom? Are you sick?" George asked. He was most definitely a doctor at heart.

"No, I'm fine."

"That's nice," Wilson interjected, still angry, "but unless if you are going to explain to us why you haven't been around for the past few days then I don't want to hear it."

Mrs. West swallowed hard. "You're father and I divorced on Friday. That's why I didn't go to the funeral or anything."

George wasn't surprised. He was closer to his mother than Wilson ever was, and he saw her more often. He could sense the strange vibes coming from her for days now, and although he never truly expected this, he was almost prepared for it. Wilson, on the other hand, was nothing of the sort. He was angry, sad, and confused all at once. He really needed Mary right then, but of course she was off tending to Billy. Why couldn't his mother be more like Mary?

'Why didn't you tell us this before?" George asked.

"Because he died. I was giving you both some time."

"Didn't you need some time?"

"Not really. I was almost happy, actually. I was glad we divorced before his heart attack. I didn't want him to die and still be married to him. That would have been wrong."

Wilson took in a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. "The only thing that's wrong is you. Now get out of my house." His voice was calm and low in a frightening sort of way.

"Honey-"

"Don't 'honey' me. You divorced him and you divorced me too. Now get out. I don't want to see you."

Her eyes turned cold. "Fine. I'll take Billy and leave."

Wilson walked toward the door to Billy's room, blocking his mother's path. "He's my son. He is staying here with me."

She reached around Wilson's body and started to turn the doorknob. "Billy, sweetie! Time to go home!" Inside the room, Mary grabbed Billy and held him tight. She wasn't sure what was going on out there, but whatever was happening she was on Wilson's side. Billy's grandmother was the enemy.

"Mom-" Wilson started.

"Don't use that tone of voice with me! I am still your mother!"

"Only by blood," George muttered from behind her. She turned around, upset that both of her boys had ganged up on her, and then walked out the front door.

Mary walked out of the room and looked at George. "Switch?" she asked as she motioned with her head to Billy's room. He nodded and walked inside.

Wilson wrapped his arms tightly around Mary and held her as close as he could get her. "I love you," he whispered over and over again as he rested his head on top of Mary's. 

"I love you, too." She leaned against him. "What time is it?"

He rubbed her back. "What is with your obsession with time?"

"I'm a busy woman."

He smiled. "I see." Mary grinned widely. He was back. "So, where are you going? Do you have a hot date or something?"

"Not quite." Her smile slightly faded. "I have radiation this afternoon."

Wilson's shoulders slumped. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I should have told you about it before. It's just that with everything going on…I didn't think you needed something else to cloud your head with."

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, it's a quarter past 4."

"Then I should get going. My appointment in for 4:30."

Wilson brought Mary in closer to his body, not wanting her to leave him just yet. "Do you have to go?" he pleaded with her.

"I'm sorry. I would stay home with you if I could, but I really should go. I need to go." She kissed his neck. Mary hated to leave him when he obviously wanted her to stay, but she needed to continue with her treatments. The last one she had had done was the internal one, and that was a long time ago. Too long, she thought. Mary kissed his lips once passionately and then looked him in the eye. "Bye." If he didn't have some sort of mental breakdown before she go t back home, maybe everything would be all right.

_

_

_

_

_  
_

A/N: This one was definitely longer than the last chapter. Too much dialog though, but it was kind of a necessary evil for this. I think it turned out almost fairly decent, though. Not the best and not the worst.

Next chapter will be everything post radiation. Yeah…no clues this time. Evil, I know.

_

_

_

_

Reviews are the mental breakdown antidote.

_

_

_

_


	26. Something to be Said About Comfort

_

_

_

Mary opened the door to her modest sized apartment and walked inside. Closing the door behind her, she saw the defeated West men on the couch waiting for her arrival. Even that, though, wasn't enough to lift their spirits. They looked up when they noticed her, but didn't move from the couch and chair they were seated on in the living room.

She decided to approach them, instead of waiting around for them, and walked over behind the couch that Billy and Wilson were seated on. She bent over, placed her hands on Wilson's cheeks, and kissed the top of his head vehemently. "Hi sweetie." She moved behind Billy, took his head in her hands, and kissed the tops of his head lightly. "Hi sweetie." Wilson and Billy smiled at the same time as Mary walked past George, patted the top of his head on the way, and sat down on the couch next to Wilson. She curled up next to his body.

"How are you doing?" Wilson asked Mary.

"I'm fine." She rubbed her hand over his muscular stomach. "I could ask you the same thing though."

"Don't worry about me," he replied quietly.

"That's impossible."

He rubbed the side of her stomach. "What are you doing, turning into me or something?"

George piped in. "Now that would be scary."

Mary sat up a little and turned her attention to George. "So Mr. Funny Man, how are you doing?"

"Not as bad as both of your 'sweeties.'" George laughed at himself. "I'm all right. I'm going back to work tomorrow."

Mary was surprised. "Isn't that a little soon? Don't you want to wait to go back next week?"

He shook his head. "I can't. You have no idea how behind I am and how many appointments I've had to reschedule from the past few days. I don't need to miss another day and neither do the rest of my patients," George explained.

Mary picked up Wilson's hand. "What about you?" He didn't answer her right away. "Oh come on, stay home with me tomorrow. You could use the time away from work and I could use the company. It's a win-win situation." Still, he didn't say anything. "It's a long weekend…"

He smiled and kissed Mary's forehead. "OK, OK. I'll stay home tomorrow."

"I'll stay home tomorrow, too," Billy chimed in.

All three adults laughed, truly laughed, for the first time in days. "I don't think so," Wilson told his son. "You have to go back to school tomorrow." Billy went to object, but Wilson stopped him. "That's just the way it goes kiddo. Life isn't always fair."

"Never?"

Wilson got quiet. "Not usually."

***

In bed that night, Mary and Wilson stayed up late holding each other. Mary could feel the happiness slowly returning to Wilson's body. She could tell that, in time, Wilson just might be OK. Even better was that she could tell Wilson needed her to get to that point- he needed her loving. It was definitely nice to be needed.

Wilson felt the same way as the night wore on. Not much sleeping was going on, but a lot of analyzing was. He turned all of his though power to Mary, though, because his own problems were suffocating him. He could feel her getting tired as she lay in bed next to him, and he imagined that she wasn't feeling all that great. That was usually the case when she got tired like this. 

Lightly he rubbed her back, placing his hand underneath the back of her shirt. He sensed her smile without having to look at her face. His love for Mary overwhelmed him, conflicting with the pain he was feeling from everything else. 

"I love you," she said before he had a chance to say it to her.

"I love you, too. You make me really happy Mary."

"That's my job," she said smiling. Wilson rubbed his hand over her stomach and she groaned. "Don't do that." She pulled his hand away.

"I'm-I'm sorry. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too hot. I'll be all right, though."

He sighed heavily. After his father died, it upset Wilson even more that Mary was sick. He didn't want to loose her, too. His heart wouldn't be able to tolerate it. "You sleep then.  I don't want you being sick for our day off together tomorrow."

Mary kissed his neck sensually. He was coming back to his old self a lot faster than she anticipated and she was happy about that. But for one of the first times in Mary's life, it wasn't all about her happiness. All she wanted was for him to be in high spirits again. That all she ever wished for Wilson.

***

Wilson shook Mary's shoulders to wake her up. As she came to, she sensed the urgency in his movements and opened her eyes. He looked down at her and rubbed his hand over his face. One of the times she looked the most beautiful was when she first woke up in the morning, with her eyes slightly puffy and her sheet marks the sides of her cheeks.

"Sorry to wake you up sweetheart, but your phone's been ringing for three minutes now."

"Who is it?" she mumbled as the ringtone came into her focus.

"Your sister." Before she could ask her next question, he answered it. "Lucy."

She reached out for the phone as she sat up. Wilson handed it to her as he sat on the bed next to his wife. "Hello? Hi Lucy. Yeah, sorry about that. I was asleep. No, I didn't have to work today." Mary saw Wilson shake his head as he smiled at her out of the corner of her eye. "Um…OK. Yeah, sure. All right. See you then Luce. Bye." Mary hung up the phone and scowled.

"What just happened?"

"Roxanne is going on some vacation-thing this weekend and she isn't going to be here this Monday for her and Lucy's pizza night. I'm going to be filling in for her- be the understudy for the cop."

Wilson chuckled at her. "You don't sound too happy about that?"

"Well, if I was happy about that I would sound happy about it. Don't get me wrong, I love Lucy and everything, but I'm not in the mood to go and have a meal with her. I mean, we're so different now. What could we possibly talk about?"

He nudged Mary with the side of his arm. "I could think of about a million things for you two to discuss."

She gave him the evil eye, but that only lasted a few seconds before she pulled him on top of her in a passionate kiss. Mary wasn't looking forward to Monday night, but she was certainly looking forward to that morning with Wilson. It would certainly be much more enjoyable than any meal with Lucy would ever be.

_

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: next chapter will either be really short or really long. I haven't decided yet. Something is going to arise due to Mary's dinner with Lucy, and that's going to be a big event. One of the last big events of the story, actually. Everything is starting to wind down a little bit. It's so sad. But not really, though, because I have been writing this story for FOREVER. Not that I have any ideas for another story, but I start to get sick of doing the same thing for so long (à la _Let's Give Them Something to Talk About_). I am sure you all understand.

_

_

_

_

You don't need your wallet to pay for pizza on Monday night. You can just pay me in reviews.

_

_

_

_


	27. Thou Shalt Not Sneak Around

_

_

_

Mary scurried around the house on a Sunday morning mumbling angry words to herself. She was mad that she had given in to going to dinner with Lucy that past Monday night, and even more angry that she couldn't think of an excuse quick enough to get out of going to see Lucy give a sermon at church today. When Lucy asked her while they were eating, her eyes pleaded for Mary to come. That blocked all of her thoughts and reduced her to a "yes" response. 

Mary didn't really understand why Lucy thought it was so important for her to be there, but it seemed to really mean a lot to her. That was also why she hadn't said no. Mary missed the first time Lucy preached, so she felt guilty lying to her. 

"Why don't you call Lucy and tell her that you're coming down with something and you don't feel well if you really don't want to go that badly," Wilson said as he cautiously entered the bedroom. Mary was angry enough to spit.

"Because she would know that I'm lying to her," Mary responded flatly.

"But it wouldn't be a complete lie. You're not feeling well." Mary had had another dose of radiation two days ago, and she was feeling sort of ill. She was tired, cranky, and achy- but in a weird sort of way. It alarmed her that she felt this way, so much so that she had even discussed it with Wilson. His response, however comforting it might have been, didn't help her any. Wilson just said that it was normal and she shouldn't worry about it. Mary disagreed with him, but didn't say anything. The last thing she wanted was to be rushed to the hospital or something of the like by her well-meaning husband.

"But I'm not coming down with something either Wilson." Mary sighed. "Besides, church starts in a half an hour, and I don't want to disappoint her and the rest of the family. Supposedly, they were all so excited that I was coming." She slipped on her dress shoes and walked toward Wilson. "Maybe it will atone for my sins. I haven't been to church since the fall."

"What sins would that be, exactly?"

"Well, let's see. I eloped and turned into even more of a habitual liar than I was before."

"I never knew that marrying me was a sin," he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Eloping isn't a very good thing Wilson."

He smiled and kissed her cheek. Mary pulled away from him slightly and looked down at her watch. "I really should get going if I plan on getting there anywhere close to on time."

Wilson kissed Mary's lips and saw her to the door. "Bye," he said quietly. He watched as Mary walked down the front steps, got into her car, and drove off in the direction of the GlenOak Community Church. He sighed, knowing that inevitably Mary would come back with some gripe and be in a bad mood. That always happened when she left the house, and almost indefinitely when she left the house without Wilson.

***

Mary pulled up to the church at the perfect time. The services would start in a little under twenty minutes, which would be just about enough time to say hello to everyone, wish Lucy good luck, and take her seat in the front left pew. When she got out of her car, however, it was a little more than she bargained for. She was ambushed by a sea of Camdens. Ruthie, David, Sam, and even Simon home on a break from school came over to greet her before she even took her key out of the ignition. Before Mary got out of the car, she looked down at her left hand. Her ring finger was empty, much like her heart felt every time she had to take her wedding ring off. She even surprised herself at how much she could miss him sometimes. 

"Hey guys," she said as she stepped out of the car, not letting being alone get to her. Sam wrapped himself around Mary, followed by David doing the same. They were getting so big, somewhat close to the size of Billy she noted. Ruthie hugged her next, and then Simon briefly embraced Mary. "I didn't know I was going to get such a warm welcome," she noted.

"We missed you," Sam said. "How come we never see you?"

"I'm sorry. I've just been really busy."

"With what?" Ruthie asked. 

"Work, getting adjusted to living by myself again."

"Didn't you move out over three months ago?" Simon asked. 

"Well, yeah, but…"

Simon smiled at her. "It's good to be back with the family, isn't it?"

Mary wrapped her arm around Simon's shoulders and she and her siblings walked toward the church doors. "Yes, it is."

At the front, Eric and Annie were waiting for the rest of their children to return with Mary. They smiled when they saw them coming. They looked like an extremely close set of siblings, just like they always hoped they would be. Even the twins were fitting in. They approached Mary with open arms literally and figuratively, just as they usually did.

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad," she said as she was sandwiched in a hug between the both of them.

"It's so great to see you at church again Mary," her mother told her.

"You should come more often. You can't be that busy. Besides, I think it would be good for you," Eric said.

It started before Mary even got in the door. Luckily, though, Lucy came outside to tell everyone to come in. She hugged Mary hello, then Mary hugged Kevin hello. She hadn't seen him in the longest time either. Lucy started to explain to Mary how nervous she was, because this was a Sunday morning service, but Mary didn't let her dwell on that.

"You'll be great Luce. You're great at everything."

"She's right," Kevin told her. 

Lucy smiled and squeezed Kevin's hand. "I am not, but thanks. And thanks for coming Mary. It really does mean a lot to me."

"If it's important to you, then it's important to me."

"Who are you and what have you done with our daughter?" Reverend Camden said from behind Mary.

She laughed, but on the inside was not too pleased. She took offense to things people said about her quite easily; she was not as thick skinned as she continuously let on. That was probably part of the problem, letting everyone think that nothing bothered her, but that was just an element of her personality. She couldn't change who she was, which was why she had kept up her lying for so long.

"Come on, let's go inside," Lucy said. Everyone agreed and followed her through the white doors and into the church.

***

George saw Mary and her family walk inside the church, so he got out of his car. The coast was clear, so to speak. Slowly he approached the church, slipping inside unnoticed and taking his seat in the third to last row on the right side. He had noticed over the weeks that everyone seemed to have an assigned seating policy, so his spot was always open. 

He sat down, smiled at the now familiar faces around him, and continued his study of Mary. She was seated with her family between her other brother-in-law and her father. So far, nothing interesting had happened. That was just the way he wanted it.

***

Mary sat in the front where she used to sit all those years ago, but everything seemed to change. Instead of sitting next to Lucy and whispering throughout the sermon, she was sitting between her father and Kevin. Matt was gone, Ruthie had a boyfriend, and all of these new people had joined the family. Roxanne and Chandler were sitting in the pew right behind Mary quietly fighting over some topic that Mary didn't know anything about. It was like this before she moved out, but she hadn't noticed it until now. They were all functioning without her. She didn't need them anymore and they didn't need her. It was quite strange.

As she listened to Lucy give her sermon, she tired to focus on it and get into the religious zone, but it just wasn't happening for her. She kept spacing out and was unable to focus for longer than twenty seconds. She usually wasn't like that unless she was very tired, and that was the case that morning. The radiation had tuckered her out. Luckily, no one was paying attention to her or realized that she wasn't giving Lucy her full consideration.

The oration eventually ended, as it always did, and the family congregated around the side of the church, to the left of the rows on the side of the church they sat on. Mary hugged Lucy when she came down, showing her approval.

"You did great. You're meant to be up there Luce," Mary said as she squeezed her sister lightly.

"You really think that?"

Mary nodded and the rest of the family came over to praise Lucy. Once they all finished, they separated slightly into the usual groups. Lucy, Kevin, Mary, Ruthie, and Roxanne all stood together making small talk. They all hadn't talked together at the same time ever, which almost seemed to make this conversation extra special to everyone- even to Mary. She was tired, and kept rubbing her eyes, but everything else was good.

"Dad said that if I did well he was thinking of letting me take a sermon every six Sundays. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Yeah," Ruthie said.

"I'd definitely be here every sixth Sunday then," Mary commented.

Everyone smiled at the prospect of having Mary around a little more, except for Roxanne. She was standing in front of Mary, facing the back of the church. Her attention was focused on the man who was quickly approaching their group of people. She pushed her way through the small circle of friends and walked over to him.

"Hello George," Roxanne said coquettish as she could muster up on such short notice. 

Upon hearing the name "George," Mary spun around to look at whom Roxanne was talking to. It wasn't _that_ common of a name, she thought. When she saw who was in front of her, though, she wished it were.

"Hi Roxanne." He tired to walk past her, but she stood in front of him.

"What's the rush?"

"Sorry. I wanted to talk with Mary."

The eyebrows rose of everyone around them, except for Roxanne's. Her face fell at the prospect of Mary being romantically involved with George. George put his hand on Mary's arm and tugged her lightly away from her clique to where they could talk with more privacy.

"What are you doing here?"

"How are you doing? Are you all right?" George asked.

"Let me ask you again," Mary said, this time with more anger in her voice. "What are you doing here?"

He decided to play down the situation. "Um, I go to this church."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why?' For the same reasons anyone else goes to church."

Tears of anguish formed in her eyes. "You're lying to me." Her face turned cold. "Answer my question George." He sheepishly cowered under her gaze. "Did Wilson send you?" Her tone was firm and full of hurt.

"Yes, but-"

She didn't let him finish, which was fine with George. He didn't really have a "but." "Why did you have to get involved? Why did he have to get involved? Frankly it's none of either of your business. Well, it maybe it has to do with him, but it's definitely none of your business George. I'm sure that you came to check up on me or something equally as lame, but I don't really care what the reason is. Now my entire family is going to question me about how I know you, and if I'm dating you, and just about anything else I don't want to answer." She glared at him as she paused to take a breath. "So, while I'm sure you meant well, you haven't done anything but make it all worse."

"Mary, I-"

She cut him off once more. "Please, if you have any compassion, you'll leave. Tell Wilson that I'm fine, and that I'm not speaking to him or to you." He opened his mouth to speak but she continued. "Thank you for making everything increasingly harder than it was before." She turned around to walk back to Lucy and the rest of the bunch.

"Mary, I'm sorry," he said, knowing that she was still within earshot.

Mary just kept on walking, not taking mind to the fact that he was still calling after her. She rejoined the group as she tried her hardest not to look upset and hurt. Roxanne stared at Mary rudely, as if she had stepped onto Roxanne's turf.

"How do you know George?" she asked boorishly. 

"Well, I, um…" She laughed nervously.

"Are you dating him?" Lucy asked. Roxanne leaned in eagerly. She wanted to know the answer to this question as well.

"No definitely not." She looked straight at Roxanne. "He's all yours."

Kevin laughed. "Come on, let's go get some refreshments."

They all walked to the back room of the church where punch and breakfast pastries would be served to the members of the congregation who stayed for that sort of thing. Lucy stayed behind to walk with Mary, and Ruthie was behind them. She wanted to listen in on the conversation of her older sisters.

"So, how do you know George?"

"He's…um…a regular customer at the bookstore." That was like two lies in one. Not only did George never step foot in the bookstore before, Mary wasn't even working there anymore. "He comes in every Monday at the same time to get some weird weekly newspaper he likes." Before Lucy could pose another question, Mary asked one of her own. "How do you know George?"

"Oh, he's been coming to the church for a few months now. Roxanne was the first one to notice him, of course, and then the rest of us introduced ourselves. He seemed kind of lonely. We asked him a couple of times to come up and sit with us, but he always politely refused. Dad thinks that something is weird about him, and so does Kevin, but we haven't found anything out."

"Something weird like what?"

"I don't know. I'm not the one who sees it. But, he is sort of mysterious."

"Really?" Mary said, trying not to draw too much attention to that. "He always seemed like an open book to me…no pun intended."

Lucy laughed as they stepped inside and got something to eat. Ruthie didn't follow them there, though. When she went inside, she immediately sought out George. She had a feeling Mary was not telling the whole truth, and she was always eager to catch someone in a lie. Catching Mary in a lie was even sweeter. 

***

Mary walked out to her car in the parking lot with Ruthie. She was going back to her parents' house to have lunch, although she wasn't at all hungry, and Ruthie wanted to ride along with her. This was certainly a lot for her to endure, though, and she was not fully prepared. She had stayed up half the night before worrying about the next morning, and now she was certainly paying for it. Her stomach was starting to get queasy, too, probably resulting from her lack of sleep.

Ruthie and Mary reached the car, but not before George called out to Mary. She stopped dead in her tracks with her hand on the handle of the car door. He called out to her again and put his hand on her shoulder once he was close enough to her. Finally, she turned around and sighed. 

"I'll just walk around the parking lot for a little bit- way over there," Ruthie said as she ducked out of the confrontation between the two.

Mary waited until Ruthie was far enough away and then spoke to George. "Will you tell Wilson that I'm going to my parent's house for lunch and I won't be home for at least another two hours?"

"Sure, but can you handle all of this?"

Some of the anger returned in her eyes. "That's why you're here, isn't it. You came to check up on me. Since Wilson couldn't come himself he sent you."

"We both just wanted to make sure you weren't over-doing it. He was worried, I was concerned, and so I came. But don't worry; I won't be coming back to this church again."

"You don't have to do that."

He furrowed his brow. "I don't get you. Are you angry with me, us, or not?"

"I am, but only because of your naïveté. You don't understand the gravity of your actions, the consequences of what you've done for me. But that's OK. This is my fault anyway. Everything is my fault." Mary ran her hand over her face in sheer exhaustion and turned away from George. "Ruthie! Let's go!" she called out to her little sister who was at the other end of the modest sized parking lot.

Ruthie walked back over and without another word George left. The two sisters piled into the car and Mary backed out of parking spot and onto the main road. Time to go face the questions. At least she was smart enough to come up with some sort of alibi, though. George was one of her customers at the bookstore. That seemed innocent enough. Her mind flashed to Wilson. He, on the other hand, was not so innocent. His intentions were good, but his execution was wrong. She had to admit, though, it was a good plan. He made her proud, she being the inventor of the "wacky plan" and all. But no matter how much she was rubbing off on him, there was still no excuse for what he did.

Mary sighed. She knew that thinking like this was no use. Wilson would just look at her with those eyes and her heart would melt. That's what happens when you really love someone; it's hard to get truly mad at them. Let's just hope that the Camdens really love Mary.

_

_

_

_

A/N: This chapter was insanely long, that's for sure. I think I like it though. This was an idea that came to me one Saturday morning as I laid in bed trying to fall back asleep- like most of my fic ideas do. I tried to type it up true to what I first thought, but I'm not exactly sure that it was what I was planning. The whole Mary/George thing was a little off. What I was going for was that she was really mad at him when she first saw him, then when she saw him again in the parking lot she realized it wasn't worth it and was more disappointed in him, and Wilson, than anything else. I don't know if it came across that way, though. I hope it did.

Next chapter will be tons of dialog if I write it the way I anticipate doing. Don't worry; all of your questions will be answered. Mary will be just as curious as you are. It'll be all Mary/Wilson/George conversation, mostly stemming from the church thing. More M and G though I think. I like their relationship almost more than Mary and Wilson's. They have a good friendly vibe going, not that the relationship is the healthiest. Whatever.

_

_

_

_

_

Reviews will aide Mary in calming down a bit.

_

_

_


	28. The Art of Male Redemption

_

_

_

The knob on the front door turned and Wilson jumped in his seat. He and George had been sitting on the couch for a long while now, since George came back to the apartment and told Wilson that things didn't go that well down at the church with Mary. Wilson was scared to see her. From the story George was telling, she was pretty angry in an evil and scary kind of way. He knew how she could get and, frankly, he was mad at himself for putting her in a situation to get like that. He didn't want to have to deal with it.

Unfortunately, Mary was there whether he was ready for her or not. She walked inside, sought out Wilson's face with her eyes, and gave him a look of sheer disgust. He pouted to appear innocent.

"You deserve that," she said as she went to put her purse down on the kitchen table. She sat down on the couch next to him and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "Should I even bother to ask why?" she said to Wilson.

"Yes, you should, because I have a very good answer to that. I was worried about you," he said as he stroked her face with his hand. Mary grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from her; she was still pretty angry. Wilson sighed and continued. "I didn't want you to overdo it. And I know how things can get with your family, so I figured if I couldn't be there with you I would send the next best thing."

"If they really did make me mad, or whatever else you conjured up in your head that they would do, what could George have possibly done from all the way in the back of church?"

"He couldn't have done anything. That's why it was a dumb idea, and an even dumber idea because I was unnecessarily spying on you," Wilson confessed to Mary.

"Do you honestly feel the need to spy on me? What did you think I was doing, going on a church date or something?"

George laughed in his seat in the chair perpendicular to the couch. "Don't knock it until you've tried it," Wilson said to him seriously.

George chuckled once more. "Don't yell at him Mary. I accepted; I should have stopped him before he did something this stupid."

Mary sat up off from Wilson and brought her legs up to sit Indian-style on the couch cushion. "So, I hear you've met my family." George nodded. "Care to explain?"

"As long as you promise you won't get any madder at me." She rolled her eyes at him and nodded. "I've been going to that church since you guys got married. Don't worry, Wilson didn't know until I told him this morning. I was going to check out your family. I was curious and I wanted to see what they were all about. I never had any intentions of talking with them or anything, but Roxanne became interested in me one morning and that was that. Your father welcomed me to the church, Lucy and everyone else introduced themselves and the rest of their clan. It was sweet, though. They seem like really nice people, but I could see how they would smother you sometimes. They mean well; I could tell that by the few encounters I have had with them."

"You and Roxanne didn't date or anything, did you?"

George made a face of repulsion. "No. Definitely not. Never." Mary laughed; she would have had the same response if she were in his position. "She seems like and OK woman I guess, she's just way too strong. And a cop. I could never date a cop."

"Me neither," Wilson said. "I could never date a woman cop."

Mary raised her eyebrows. "So you'd date a male cop?"

Wilson decided to fight fire with fire. "You know, Mary wanted to be a police officer back in Buffalo, but she couldn't get in because she couldn't figure out that she was only twenty and you needed to be twenty-one for them to employ you."

Mary hit the side of Wilson's arm as George shook his head at him. "Don't you think you've made your wife angry enough today?"

"Yeah," Mary chimed in. Wilson smiled at Mary sheepishly and kissed her cheek. Mary returned her head to his shoulder and snuggled in next to him. It felt so nice to have him next to her. Wilson reached into his pocket and handed Mary her wedding ring. She slipped it on with a smile and kissed his neck. "Thank you."

"You're little sister, Ruthie, she's something else," George said.

"I wanted to ask you, what exactly did she say to you? Or, more importantly, what did you say to her?"

"She asked me how I knew you…she said some thing about a newspaper. I just went along with it."

"Good, good," Mary said, the relief she was feeling apparent in her voice. George really was a smart man, she thought to herself. 

"And she asked if we were dating, and I told her no. Actually, I said that you weren't my type."

"So…I'm not your type, Roxanne's not your type, what is it that your looking for? Is that why you don't have someone, you're picky?" Mary knew that she was prying and could have been crossing a line, but in all honesty she didn't care. This was something she had been wondering about George for a while. She had to admit that he was a good looking man, sharing most of the same facial features that Wilson had and his dark and mysterious eyes and hair. She wondered why someone hadn't snatched him up a while ago.

"No, not really. It's just that with med school and everything I didn't have the time. I buried myself in school and now I'm burying myself in my work," he explained to Mary.

"I don't see you working all that much," Mary said. "You're always over here. If you saw a little less of me and Wilson you'd definitely have time to date."

"Why are we getting into this?" Wilson asked.

Mary smiled at him. "I just want him to be as happy as we are."

George shook his head as he smiled slightly. "OK, if you two are going to get mushy I'm leaving."

"Fine," Mary said with a yawn. "I'm getting pretty tired anyway. I should get some sleep." 

Wilson rubbed the back of Mary's head with the palm of his hand. Saying that she looked exhausted would have been an understatement. He was surprised that she was able to last this long with them on the couch. Granted, the extra stress he put on her probably didn't help either, but she looked about ten times more tired than when she left the apartment this morning. 

George stood up and let himself out. Wilson turned his body on the couch so that he was facing Mary and she ginned widely at him. "So, you want to sleep on the bed, on the couch…want me to lie down with you…want to sleep until tomorrow?" Wilson asked.

"It's only three o'clock," she reminded him. "There is no way you could sleep until tomorrow."

"True, but I'll do whatever you want me to do. Just name it Mare."

She leaned in and kisses his lips lightly. "Come lie down with me. Maybe I'll get a sudden boost of energy and we can have some fun." She winked at him.

The couple stood up together, locked hands, and went into the bedroom. Although it was not necessary, Wilson closed the door behind them for dramatic effect. He hoped that that would offer enough momentum for her to get in the mood, because that little hint was all that it took for him. 

They lied down on the bed together and Mary closed her eyes in sheer exhaustion. Wilson's shoulders slumped in disappointment, and without actually seeing it Mary knew he was disenchanted. "I'm sorry honey. Later. I'm just so tired."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "No, I'm sorry. You sleep. I love you."

Mary rolled toward him and put her head on his chest. "I know you love me, otherwise you wouldn't have done what you did today. And I love you, too, Wilson. With all of my heart. I hate going to see my family without you; it feels so wrong." Right after she said that sentence she bit her tongue. "Don't respond to that."

Wilson laughed and within seconds she was asleep. He traced each one of the fingers of her motionless hand she had placed on his stomach with his pointer as he held her closely to him. This was not such a bad ending to that day. He was anticipating it being much worse after George came back from the church. Hopefully, though, this would not be the ending at all. He had a feeling that Mary would be true to her word and they could be together tonight. The day called for that in a weird way. They needed to feel each other to help them believe everything was all right. They are both very physical people; that was the way they had always worked.

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: I know I promised no more mention of sex but I couldn't help myself. Sorry. This chapter stunk. Last chapter was much better. This story is really coming to a close now. It's sad. I don't even know where I am going next with this, so I might take a little while for the next chapter I am sorry to say. Wait, I just got a great idea. I know how I am going to end it. Five more chapters to this I think. Ah, I love being inspired.

_

_

_

_

_

More reviews will help to keep Mary and Wilson out of the bedroom.

_

_

_


	29. Reach for the Stars

A few days later, Mary was in one of the examination rooms at Dr. George's office. Usually, they joked around, both of their playful banter overly apparent, but today was different. George wasn't saying much and that made Mary nervous. He was always quiet when he was trying to hide something. Similar to the Camdens, he was not good at lying.

George sighed heavily as he finished the examination and looked up at her. Mary put her legs down from the stirrups and took notice that George was evidently upset, although he was trying so hard to hide it from her. 

"I want to do an MRI," he said as he looked away from her.

Mary's mouth went dry and she was unable to question him for a while. He had caught her off guard.  "Why?"

George stood up and began to write tings in her chart. "I don't want to alarm you if there is nothing to alarm you with."

Her jaw dropped; she did not believe he was doing this to her. "So you're not going to tell me?"

He shook his head. "Later, if you don't mind."

Mary did mind, but she didn't say anything to him about it. She trusted him with her life, and sometimes you have to do things like that when you put your existence in someone else's hands. There was no doubt in her mind that George was capable of taking good care of her, so not knowing what he was up to didn't bother her as much as one would have thought. "Right now?" He nodded and she sighed heavily.

Mary quickly redressed and left the examination room. She walked about four different hallways and then up two floors until she got to where George told her she needed to go. She approached a desk in the middle of the floor; one nurse was standing there on the phone. "All right. Sure, I can do that. You're welcome. Bye," the nurse said into the receiver. The woman hung up the phone and then looked up at Mary. "Mary Camden?"

Mary nodded and without another word the nurse took Mary to the machinery where the MRI scan was to be done. The equipment in the room the nurse led her into was a little intimidating. It was a big cone shaped plastic apparatus that she was supposed to lay inside of while it x-rayed her body. Quickly, the nurse rattled off an explanation that she had probably given a hundred times and Mary hopped onto the machine.

The thirty-something nurse walked out of the room and the device started to whirr around Mary's sacred body. She closed her eyes and tried to process what was going on, but was completely unable to. Everything was happening so fast and she didn't know all of that much to begin with. Mary felt herself moving with the machine and opened her eyes. She didn't like this one bit.

Before she knew it the procedure was over. The nurse walked her out of the room and gave her a file that she was supposed to give to Rosa as soon as she got back inside of George's office. Being the good girl that she was, she did just as she was told. She wouldn't have been able to decipher anything from whatever was in her file anyway.

Mary waited about a half an hour before she was called back in to see George. He wanted to examine her again. When he came into the room, he didn't say anything to her. She had to admit that she was frightened. As she lay on the table she remembered something. The blood work George had done the last time she was here had to be back by now. She couldn't think about that for long, however, because George interrupted her. The examination he was doing this time was different; she could feel it. He was poking her in different areas, not where he normally checked her, and it just felt different. A bad different.

He touched one area a few times and she winced. Then, all at once, he was finished. "Please get dressed and meet me in the discussion room." He sounded so formal. Mary bit her tongue to keep tears from falling as she dressed for the second time. 

In the discussion room, George sat rigid in his chair before Mary. He looked at her chart a few times, and then back up at her, then would look down again. She wanted to ask him what was going on but refrained from doing so. She knew it was something bad and she didn't want any more bad news. After everything that had happened in the past six weeks, she didn't thin she could handle it.

George began to speak. "I usually don't ask this, but you're special." Mary was even more confused than before. "I have something important to tell you. Would you like to wait for Wilson and I can tell you both later or something, or would you rather me just tell you alone right now?"

Mary's body stiffened. "Just tell me now. I don't think I can stand waiting any longer."

"I'm sorry about that. I just didn't want to put you through this if I didn't have to- warn you of a possibility that wasn't at all applicable. But now it seems…" He paused and started anew. "Mary, your cancer has spread into your uterus- Stage III."

Her eyes went wide and she took deep breaths. George's tone had been so firm and serious. That, coupled with what he said, had thrown her over the edge. Mary was very good at keeping things together, though. She had just been told that her cancer has stretched even further and developed into the next classified stage, but you wouldn't be able to tell from looking at her. 

"What does that mean to me?" she asked him after the shock began to subside.

"We're going to have to be more aggressive with your treatment. Obviously the radiation isn't really helping."

"Aggressive how? Like, chemo?" she asked apprehensively.

"Possibly. I still don't know if I want to do that for you. It was always kind of my last resort. It's so damaging." He was floundering slightly under the pressure.

"George," Mary said with all sincerity, "forget about trying to save my body. It won't do me any good if I'm in the most fertile person in the world if I'm not here to do anything with it." 

He felt like smiling at her comment, on the inside at least, but that was not what the time called for. He couldn't help but think, though, that he had let Mary down. He had been very secretive all day with her, and now she had just accused him of not doing his job. Without knowing it, he was in agreement with Mary. This was not good at all.

***

Mary paced around the area of the front door as she waited for Wilson to come home from work. She had been going over in her head what she should say to him and hadn't settled on anything that really suited the situation or her mood. Honesty, however, was the only way to go with this. She had to tell him the truth, and as soon as he came home. 

The door opened ten minutes later to reveal Wilson. His eyes were warm and loving as he looked at Mary while approaching her. He had no idea what he was about to be up against. He went over to kiss her hello before he said anything. Wilson leaned in and his lips almost touched Mary's; she turned her head away from him.

'What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

"I have some news for you." Her voice was monotone. She led him into the heart of the apartment and held his hands.

"Good news or bad news?"

She felt bad for him. "Bad news." His look told her that he wanted her to continue. "Maybe you should sit down."

"Is it that serious Mare?" She nodded and he immediately sat on the couch.

"I saw George today," she began.

"So?"

The corners of her lips turned up slightly. It was not quite smiling, because she was incapable of smiling at a time like this. "I had an appointment with George," she clarified. "He did some more tests, diagnostic stuff, and he…he… He told me that my cancer's in stage III and has spread to my uterus." That wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. It actually felt good to have said it, like she was releasing some of the pain she felt from it somehow by sharing this information with Wilson.

He stared back at her blankly. He looked so completely innocent and scared to Mary. After what seemed like an eternity to him, Wilson embraced Mary slowly. He didn't hug her because he thought she needed the hug, he hugged her because he needed it. Yet again, everything in his life he took for granted kept slipping away from him. "How does he know this? Is he sure?" 

"He did a pap smear, measured my CA 125, and an MRI scan, plus did a different pelvic exam. I…I don't know." She tried to explain a little bit, but it was hard for her- harder than she expected.

"What's a CA 125?"

"CA 125 is a protein that's made in the abdominal area. He's been measuring it for a while, and looking at the numbers you can tell when something is wrong. Consistency is good, but, um, my number nearly doubled since the last time he checked it." Mary was shocked by her knowledge of all of the medical jargon. Being in the hospital so much must have been rubbing off on her.

He cleared his throat and she took notice of how pale his face had gotten. "What's going to happen now?"

"I have to change my treatment because the radiation is obviously doing squat. He hasn't decided on what, though, but he said that he'd call later once he decided on something. Depending on what he picks, I could have another appointment tomorrow."

Tear welled up in Wilson's eyes and he had no idea what he should be saying to her. "Are-are you OK? This must be hard on you."

"I'm fine," she told him. He hugged her again, but she wriggled out from underneath his grasp. "I want to be alone for a little while longer." She noticed the concern on his face. "I'm fine, I just need a little more time by myself to process this."

"You take all the time you need." He squeezed her hand. "I'll be here for you when you want to talk though."

"I know," she said as she stood. Wilson watched as Mary exited the living room and went into the bedroom. He heard the click of the lock on the door behind her; she had completely shut him out. Wilson leaned his back against the couch behind him and covered his face with his hands. The tears had subsided for now, but for all he knew they could come back at any time. Wilson knew that this was bad- a lot worse than he ever anticipated her getting. She was doing so well, too. At least that was what he thought…or hoped. He must have missed the signs, or maybe George had missed them. 

Wilson stood up and went over to the bedroom door. As lightly and quietly as possible, he passed his fingers over the doorknob to verify that it was locked. His shoulders slumped when he realized that it was. He ran his hand through his perfectly coifed dark brown hair as he leaned his body against the door. Mary was quiet inside. He could imagine her lying on the bed, seeming to be unfazed by the whole situation, and staring up at the ceiling.

Mary was doing just what Wilson thought. Her head was devoid of all thoughts as her chest rose up and down with every breath. She felt like she was having some sort of out-of-body experience, or a nightmare. This couldn't be happening. Without her consent, her mind flashed to Wilson and Billy. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. She was supposed to get better and be with them forever. That goal, no matter how nice it might have been, seemed completely unreachable at that moment. She closed her eyes and imagined grabbing a fictitious object, but it was impossible for her to get at. That was the way her life felt at the moment. She was so close, but not close enough. Everything was still inches away from her grasp, and no matter how hard she stretched, nothing mattered. Her arms would never be long enough to reach what she really wanted.

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: This chapter was weird. I guess it was kind of supposed to be weird, though. I felt weird when I was dreaming it up, so that was what I wanted to put down on paper. I did some research for this chapter, and by no means am I a medical expert, but it seemed all right to me. Don't yell at me if it's wrong.

I don't know what I am doing next. I mean, I know, but I don't know how I am going to get there. The chemo thing…George is undecided because I am undecided. I don't quite know if it will fit, but I have kind of written myself into a chemo-corner.

_

_

Mary's long gone, but your reviews will help make a certain sexy male feel better.

_

_

_

_


	30. Flashing Lights

_

_

_

"Everything seems to be going good," George said answering Wilson's question.

Mary, Wilson, and George sat in the discussion room five days after the big announcement of Mary being sicker than any of them ever envisioned. George had called that night a few days ago, telling Mary that she should come in the next day for chemotherapy.  Since then she has undergone three sessions of it. 

All three of them were anxious as to how Mary would react to this treatment. She had done relatively well with the radiation, but not the best. And, as George had constantly warned them, this was a lot stronger and a lot damaging. So far, though, she was all right. As with the radiation, she was tired and nauseous- but other than that not too bad. They all had been relieved.

There were two chairs in front of Wilson's desk, but only one of them was being used. Mary sat sideways on Wilson's lap as he stroked her body with his strong hands. His arm constantly moved around her body to comfort her. He rubbed her side, hips, stomach, and shoulder, anything that was within reach of his arm. Her felt so bad that Mary had to go through all of this that he made sure that he went out of his way to soothe her and her aching body.

Mary lovingly leaned into his touch. As they continued to speak about the state of her health, she was continuing to get tired. She knew that she should be heading home soon and getting to bed. She refrained form verbalizing that concern, however, because Wilson was immersed in a deep conversation with George regarding her. It was much easier if he talked directly to him instead of Mary relaying everything that he said to her. She was happy that Wilson had offered to come and sit in on this appointment.

George, on the other hand, was much more observant than Wilson ever will be. "You should get her home now. You don't want anything happening to her." Panic instantly crossed Wilson's face. "I'm sure she's fine, but bring her home."

Wilson looked up at Mary to see if she was OK. "I'm tired," she finally admitted to him.

Wilson immediately stood, carefully taking Mary off of his lap, and took her hand. "Bye George," he said, and they were quickly out the door. Mary's well-being would always come first.

***

At home that night, Mary really wasn't feeling well. She felt kind of strange, actually, but didn't mention it to Wilson. The last thing she needed was for Wilson to obsess over that for the next couple of days. The way she felt, though, reminded her of the way she felt when she was at church that Sunday she went to hear Lucy preach. She had felt weird then, too. 

Mary lay in bed for the remainder of the night as she felt her energy draining. She already could tell that tomorrow was going to be a challenge. Wilson sat on the edge of the bed most of the time staring gat her. They hadn't really discussed Mary's cancer since she came home that now infamous afternoon, and him sitting there ogling her felt like pressure. She was aware that that was not his intent, but it didn't change the way it came across to her. 

She closed her eyes a short while later to escape his prying gaze. She couldn't take him looking at her in that way anymore- sympathetic and fearful in almost a rude kind of way. Mary didn't mean to fall asleep, but she couldn't help herself. She was exhausted beyond belief.

When she awakened she knew that it was the middle of the night all of the lights were off, it was pitch black in the bedroom, and Wilson was at her side. Without any real thought, she rolled over and put her head on his shoulder. She moved again and placed it on his chest, trying to get comfortable. All of her moving had woken Wilson up in the process. He groggily opened his eyes and looked down at her. 

"Are you OK?"

She nodded. "I'm getting up for a second. I'll be right back." 

Mary slowly rolled out of bed and made her way to the door. Wilson sat up in the bed and watched her as she left. It was a good thing that he did, because as he looked on he saw Mary clutch the doorframe and stop moving. He couldn't see in the blackness, but this struck him as being odd- even for Mary.

"Mare?" he said and stood up to go over to her. He saw Mary lurch forward, leaning on the wall for support. He put his hand on her back and she breathed heavily a few times; he noticed her chest heaving much more than usual. Something bizarre was definitely going on. Her body weight shifted and she used his arm to sustain her vertical position. Wilson went to put his arm around her waist, and as he did she collapsed. 

Luckily, he was able to catch her before she hit the ground.  Wilson placed his hand on her clammy cheek and gently shook her face. "Mare? Mare?" he said in alarm. Wilson reached up and flipped the light switch on the wall. The room was illuminated and it took his eyes a while to adjust to the bright light. When they did, Mary lying lifelessly in his arms came into focus. 

Wilson was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life when he reached up for the phone on the desk to the left of him. Cautiously, he dialed the numbers 9-1-1. 

"My wife…she…she passed out. I don't think she's breathing." They said that they were on their way with an ambulance and Wilson hung up the phone, punching in the next number automatically. "George? Meet us at the hospital."

Wilson's heart was racing. This was all so surreal. Minutes later, he heard sirens in the distance. They came closer and closer, then knocked on the door. Wilson rested Mary's head softly on the floor and let the emergency personnel in. Two large men lifted Mary up, put her on a stretcher, and rolled her into the back of the ambulance sitting in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Morosely, Wilson got into his own car and followed behind the flashing lights. 

I should have offered to go with her, he thought. She is alone in there. She hates to be alone. I promised I would never leave her. Tears fell down his cheeks. All he wanted was his wife back- his Mary.

_

_

_

_

A/N: This is the shortest chapter in the history of short chapters. I am appalled that I have the guts to post this on here. And it's a cliffhanger. It doubly blows. And besides that the writing is awful. The concept is really lame. I could have done much better. Ah I am so mad at myself. Bad, bad, bad

_

_

_

Reviews will help to bring me out of the Soap Opera realm.

_


	31. Trying to be Strong

_

_

Wilson paced back and forth around the dreary hospital room. He had been in there for over twenty-four hours and was sick of sitting down in the uncomfortable plastic chair that came standard with his surroundings. Mary had been asleep for so long now it was ridiculous. She had woken up since she was rushed to the hospital two nights ago, but she when she was awake she was very groggy and out of it. 

He walked around and around her bed, expecting her to just wake up and be fine. As he stared at her, though, with tubes running into her nose and an IV in her arm, he knew that that wasn't going to happen. Still, it was what he wanted so desperately.

Wilson sat back down in the chair, after having gotten his exercise for the moment, and picked up Mary's limp right hand. She stirred a little, rolling her head toward him and taking a few deep breaths. After that she was still once again. Tears formed in Wilson's eyes but he quickly blinked them away. He had to be strong for her, but he felt so helpless as she lay in front of him.

There was a knock on the door to the room and a nurse walked inside. "Any change?" she said as she smiled kindheartedly at Wilson. This nurse checked on Mary about three or four times during her shift yesterday, and this was now the second time today. She watched as Wilson shook his head in response to her question and walked closer to Mary. She checked her vital signs and then walked over to stand at Wilson's side. "You know," she said, "I could sit with her for a little it if you'd like. You shouldn't just keep sitting in here like this."

"No," he replied quickly and firmly. "I can't leave her. You wouldn't understand."

The nurse sighed and patted Wilson's shoulder. That was the same response he gave the last three times she had asked him if he wanted a break. Not only was Wilson distraught by himself, but he was distraught in front of strangers, too. It wasn't his fault, though. He had too much on his mind to worry about if everyone else thought he was nuts or not. The fact that they did did not faze him in the least.

Mary was so special to Wilson, and his love for her was all consuming. Seeing her lying passed out from exhaustion in a hospital room completely tore him apart inside. No one seemed to understand how much he cared for Mary, or the fact that he wasn't leaving that room until she was allowed to leave. It was as simple as that.

Twenty minutes passed before he had another visitor. Usually the person in the hospital had all of the visitors, but Wilson seemed to be much more popular than Mary was. This time, Billy and his mother entered the room. Wilson was so angry that he stayed still as they entered around him.

"What are you doing bringing him here? I don't want to scar him for life or something. Did you forget that he's eight, mom?" Wilson said heatedly to his mother.

"No, I didn't forget," she said resolutely. "He asked me to bring him here. I brought him because I figured we could sit with her and give you a break. Go home, Wilson. Get some sleep, eat something, and then you can come back in a few hours. She'll be fine until then."

Wilson was so irritated just at the sight of her. Countless people had offered to be with Mary so that he could get some time away, but it didn't anger him when they asked like it did when she asked. He still wasn't over what his mother did to his father. Besides, if she could do something that despicable to her own husband, she certainly couldn't be good company for Mary.

He didn't answer his mother. Billy came over and stood next to Wilson, staring intently at Mary and all of the tubes coming out of her body. Tears formed in his eyes, but, like his daddy, he quickly blinked them away. He had to be strong for himself.

"How is she?" Billy asked Wilson.

"I'm not really sure. Uncle George said that she just got too tired and did too much, and that she should be fine, but she's still sleeping. She's been awake, but only for a few seconds. She couldn't carry on a conversation or anything like that."

Billy nodded maturely. "Want me to sit with you Dad? You're waiting for Mary to wake up, right? I want to be here when she gets up, too."

What was left of Wilson's heart melted. Billy had been so good throughout all of this. He seemed to understand everything that was going on, although none of the adults could see how he would. It was a hard concept for them to grasp, and he was so little to all of them. He was always be "too young" in their eyes, regardless if he really was or not. Billy pulled up one of the chairs against the wall and sat in it.

"Well, I'm going to leave then. I know you don't want me here. I'll take Billy with me if you want."

Wilson looked up at his son, taking his eyes off of Mary for a moment. "No, he can stay." He quickly turned his attention back to his wife, though, as if he were entranced in some televised sporting event like men often get. He was afraid that if he took his eyes off of her, just for a moment, that something would happen to her. That was the last thing he wanted- for Mary to get any worse off than she already was.

He sat with Billy by his side for about three hours. Billy had started watching Mary intently, too, trying to see if he could visibly find the thing that was making her sick. He concluded, though, after about an hour of staring, that you couldn't see cancer- only its effects. Once he peeled his eyes off of her, though, he saw that Wilson was passed out. His head was leaning on his own shoulder, looking very uncomfortable.

Twenty minutes later, Wilson started to mumble things. It was obvious that he was dreaming. Wilson started leaning forward and eventually ended up sprawled out on the side of Mary's bed. He was exhausted. That was the position that he was in when George walked in about an hour later. He saw his brother, nephew, and sister-in-law and smiled. Even with the amount of problems that they had, they were still a happy family.

George shook Wilson's shoulders after he made sure that Mary was still all right. Wilson came to quickly, startled by George waking him up.

"Is she OK?" he asked immediately.

"Yes, she's fine. But I'm going to take Billy home. Then, when I get back, you're going to go home and sleep for a while. I'll be with her; she'll be fine," he told Wilson.

"I can sleep here. And I don't want to be at home when she wakes up. I don't want to leave her period."

"I don't think she's going to be waking up tonight. Probably more like tomorrow morning. I say you'll be safe if you're back before then," George explained cautiously. He didn't want Wilson getting angry with him because he was so tired and cranky. 

"You don't get it. No one gets it. She hates being alone. And she's not unconscious George. Even if she isn't awake she'll know that I'm not here. I'm sure she will." Wilson tried to clarify it for George, but he knew that he would never fully understand the relationship that he and Mary shared. It just was not possible.

"But I'll be here. And we kind of look alike- maybe she'll think I'm you." He tried to joke, but he knew that Wilson wasn't quite in the mood for laughs yet. It was still too soon.

"If I say yes," he said with a sigh, "will everyone stop bugging me?" George nodded. "Then fine. But if she waked up before you get back then I'm not going anywhere."

***

George stopped his car in the driveway of his mother's condo. He went to open the door to get out, but Billy stopped him. "Uncle George," he said carefully, "could I ask you something?"

"Anything sport," George answered him with a smiled.

"What's cancer?"

George froze and his smile fell. How was he supposed to answer that? And, more importantly, how did Billy know that Mary had cancer? As far as he knew, no one had told him. They were trying there best to keep it from him, but obviously they had failed. George cleared his throat and then spoke. "Cancer is something that makes you very, very sick."

"Is it a disease?"

"Kind of, yeah. But don't worry. You can't catch it from anyone."

Billy laughed. "I know that. But what is it? I tried to find out myself, but everything on the computers at school used words that I didn't understand."

He tried to explain it in a way that he thought Billy would be able to comprehend. "Well, your whole body is made up of cells- everyone's is. There little tiny things, microscopic circles kind of. They make up your skin, your hair, your eyes, everything. Your cells don't stay alive forever, though, so they have to make more of themselves so your body has enough. It's good that they do that. But sometimes, peoples' bodies will keep making more cells, and making more cells, and making more cells, when they don't need any more. They can't stop." He paused for a moment. "That's cancer."

Billy looked slightly confused. "Cancer is when your body keeps making cells and can't stop?" he asked for elucidation.

"Yup."

"Can you fix it?"

Billy was more innocent than George had ever thought. "Yes, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work."

"Can they die from it?"

George sighed. He didn't want to lie to Billy, especially in light of Mary's current condition. She certainly wasn't doing extraordinary or anything like that. "Yes."

George was thankful that Billy didn't ask if Mary was going to die from it. He had just gotten out of the car and walked toward his grandmother's house. He felt so bad for him. He was so young and had to deal with so many things- things and eight year old boy should never have to deal with. His father is only twenty-four, his mother died during labor, his father remarried after years of dating for practically his entire life, and now Mary had cancer. Come to think of it, Wilson had it hard, too. Teen father and on the verge of losing his second wife. It didn't get much worse than that.

***

The phone rang next to Wilson's bed the next morning and he quickly answered it. George was on the line. He had stayed with Mary overnight, so that Wilson could get some rest and clear his head. He hated to be away from Mary, but he was glad that he had some time to himself to think and sleep.

"I have good news. Mary's up, really up. She's asking for you. She wants you to come down here." George's voice was almost chipper, but there seemed to be something holding him back from being truly happy.

"How is she? Is she all right?"

"Just come down here. We can talk, you can talk to her."

"OK, I'll be right there. Thanks George." As Wilson hung up the phone, he realized that George was withholding information from him. That was just the catalyst Wilson needed to get dressed a little faster and get out of the house a lot sooner.

***

"Are you sure?" George asked her with tears in his eyes. He made no attempt to conceal them. "I'm sure I could-"

"No," Mary interjected. "It's OK.  I don't want to put anyone through this anymore. I just need to talk to him and then everything will be OK." He looked at her with doubt. "It will. You worry too much."

"Well shouldn't you be worrying, at least a little? About him…and about Billy."

"I can't," she replied sincerely. "Besides, I know they'll be all right. They're both strong. Stronger than me, apparently."

_

_

_

_

A/N: I know, I know. You have permission to kill me- two cliffhanger things in a row. I know you're all probably confused now, but that's just the way I like it. Everything will make sense though. All in good time my friends. ;)

_

_

Mary's not stronger than what? Who? Huh? Oh, just review already. It will help you out of your confused stupor.

_

_


	32. Hoping Beyond Hope

_

_

_

When Wilson came in the hospital room, both Mary and George's heads whipped in the direction of door. Now Wilson was definitely sure that something was up. He knew Mary and his brother all too well.

"I'm going to, um, go. I have places to go and patients to see." He looked down at Mary as he stood up off of the edge of her bed. "If you need me for anything at all, anything, I'll come running. I promise you that." He rubbed Mary's leg sympathetically through her bed sheet and turned to Wilson. "Same goes for you, too, OK?"

"OK…" Wilson said. He didn't like being this confused. 

George left, patting Wilson's shoulder on the way out, and left the side of the bed for Wilson to occupy. Wilson did this cautiously. He didn't want to disturb her and cause her any more pain than she probably was already in. he noticed that the oxygen tubes were gone from her face but she still had the IV in her arm. Lightly, he ran his hand over hers and then picked up it. She smiled at weak smile and so did he. A lone tear rolled down his left cheek. "I missed you. Don't scare me like that Mary, OK?"

"Wilson." His tone was lighthearted, but Mary's was serious.

"What?" he asked concerned.

"Promise me you'll just listen until I'm done talking. Promise you won't say anything yet?"

He didn't like where this was going at all. Wilson gulped hard. "OK, but-"

"No 'buts.' I was talking to George before you came. Well, obviously I talked to him, but…" She took a deep breath and attempted to start again, this time with her words more focused. "He doesn't think that I'm going to make it." She waited for him to absorb the information, and after a few seconds she squeezed his hand. When he was ready for her to continue, he squeezed back. "He doesn't know how long I have though. He said it could be hours, days, weeks…he can't really pinpoint as of yet. He said that I'm not ready to go home, not for a few days anyway." She sniveled- side effects from her crying earlier. "I don't think I'm going to make it out of here."

The last pieces of normalcy Wilson had been clinging on to snapped inside of him. Mary was going to die; his whole world was over. Sensing that she was finished for now, he spoke. "How…how do you know? How does he know? You can't live, or not live, your life based on what he's said to you. It's just George. He's not a psychic or a genius."

"I feel it inside of me. I felt it when I woke up the other night when I passed out. I felt it when I was at church last weekend. My time has come honey."

"But-but I don't want you to leave me. I need you." He knew that he was being selfish, but if that was what it took for her to turn her attitude around then he was all for it. It was even more than being selfish, though. He was being honest.

A few tears fell from her eyes. "I know, but I don't think I have a choice. I just have this feeling that I should be getting everything in order because I'm not going to be here anymore."

"You seem to be so OK with this. I have to admit, it's scaring me a little," he said with a slight smile.

"I'm scaring myself," she conceded. "It's weird, though. I just feel this overwhelming calm. It's not good, that's what it is, but I-I don't know."

"Did something happen while you were sleeping? You were sleeping, right? Is that what brought all of this on?" he questioned.

"Yes, I was sleeping and no, that didn't bring anything on. I was just tired. I'm still tired. George said that was probably from the chemo and that I over-exerted myself when I stood up. I probably would have been fine, at least until morning, if I stayed in bed." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I caused all of this, I guess, but what else is new. I'm so stupid."

Wilson rubbed her palm over her cheek. Her face looked so sallow- for the first time in a while she really looked sick. "You are not stupid. Don't you ever think that. What happened to you trying to be positive?"

"Being positive is really hard," she stated.

"You were never afraid of a little hard work."

Mary laughed at him. "Are you kidding? I'm afraid of everything- especially things that require me to work a little."

"Were you afraid of getting married?"

She pondered that for a second. "I was nervous…but, no. I was never afraid."

"See, there you go," he said proudly. "I proved you wrong." 

She smiled as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the flat hospital pillow behind her. "Wilson?" she asked innocently. "Will you hold me?"

Without a single word, Wilson crawled beside Mary like he had done so many nights before and wrapped his arms around Mary's frail body, drawing her as close as was possible. She fit her body against Wilson's and as she did, Wilson noticed that she felt different. He couldn't really describe it, but it wasn't like she normally was when they were in their bed at home together. She almost felt half-gone. 

Mary's head fell between Wilson's bicep and chest. She yawned loudly and Wilson didn't say anything for a while. He knew that she was going to go to sleep. He was correct in his assumption. As she slept peacefully in his arms, Wilson looked down at her. He loved her so much, more than he ever thought that he did. Everything he ever felt for Mary was surfacing now because he was in danger of losing her. It was one of the worst experiences Wilson ever had.

George came in about a half hour after Mary fell asleep. He saw the two of them on the bed together and sighed sullenly. "She told you?" he asked his little brother quietly.

Wilson nodded. "You really don't think she's going to make it?"

"I think that if she could get her energy back up she could have a good shot, but look at her. She can barely stay awake for an hour. Her cancer has gotten so much worse; she's really, really sick." Wilson nodded again, understanding what George was saying to him. "I'm so sorry Wilson."

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. It's just sad that it has to happen this way." Tears fell from his eyes. "I'm really going to miss her."

Wilson's crying woke Mary up. She stirred in his arms and mumbled his name. George smiled at Wilson and ducked out of the room, completely unnoticed by Mary. Her eyes opened and she turned her gaze upward to her husband.

"Want to talk?"

He kissed the top of her head. "That's OK. You're tired. I want you to rest."

"I can multitask- talk and rest at the same time."

He laughed slightly. "I see." The smile he had, however, quickly faded. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Are you OK? I want to make sure you're going to be OK when I'm not here anymore."

Wilson winced at her words. Underneath it all, he resented her willingness to discuss the subject so openly. He still thought that, at this early stage, it was something to be tiptoed around. What Mary knew that Wilson didn't, however, was that there was no time to tiptoe around it. If they did, it would be upon them before they got a chance to speak about it.

"To be honest, I'm not OK, but I will be in time I guess. It's just…I don't want to have to be OK with it. I don't want to lose you Mare." Wilson started to cry and Mary understood- everything, plenty, too much in fact. 

Mary remained quiet for a while as she allowed Wilson to adjust, as well as let out his emotions. It was hard on her, but she had had more time to deal with it. After a long past few days, he was just learning of all of this. She felt so bad for him- for leaving him and for talking so candidly about the subject. She only did that, though, because she had things she needed him to do for her.

After she allowed him to calm down while she slept for another hour, she woke up and the room was quiet. The quiet appeased her mind, because she had a bad headache and felt awful all over. She could feel everything getting tougher and tougher. She was certain that she wasn't going to be able to hang on for much longer.

"Wilson," she said gently, "I have something to tell you. Well, more like something to ask you."

"I hope it isn't as serious as what you told me before," he said.

She smiled. "That would depend upon how you looked at it." She tried to speak but her emotions got the best of her. Upon reflecting what she was going to ask of him, she couldn't help but crying. She sobbed into Wilson's chest without any control over her tears. This was huge and she knew it. Mary never was dumb. Maybe a little crazy, but surely not dumb.

"Shh," Wilson said as he rubbed her back lightly. "It's OK. Just tell me what's going on Mare."

She wiped her eyes and continued. "Remember when you got pulled over by Kevin?" He nodded. "Well, um, that day, I went to a lawyer's. I had my will drawn up, just in case, you know?" He nodded again in understanding. "And in my will, I left letters- letters to my family. I wrote it into my will for you to deliver them for me."

His body tensed. "What are they, explanation letters?"

"Sort of, but more like goodbye letters. I wrote them the day after I went to the lawyer's. His business card is in my wallet, behind all of my money, if you need it."

Wilson ran his fingers through the back of Mary's hair. "Don't think you can pull one over on me. I see where you're going with this. You want me to…to tell them, don't you?"

"I would have, but I didn't have a chance. If I end up having time I will but I don't think that'll happen and I hate to do this to you but-" Mary was speaking a mile a minute. Wilson could barely understand the words coming out of her mouth.

He put his fingers to her lips, silencing her. He leaned down gently and kissed her. "I don't want to have to be the one to do that, I think you should have done it a long time ago, but if that's what you want me to do than so be it. I can't expect you to face your family now- not while you're this sick Mary."

"Are you sure? Because-"

"I'm sure. Don't worry about it. Everything will be taken care of."

***

Wilson spent the next two days in that bed with Mary. He refused to get up or leave her side at all. He wanted to be with her until it was her time to go. Like all of the other times that Mary was in the hospital, Wilson rubbed his hands gently over her body to comfort her in her time of need. She was in and out of being awake for those next forty-eight hours, and with the more she continued to sleep the worse Wilson knew that she felt. 

Wilson held onto Mary closely, whispering sweet nothings into her ear to calm her- even when she was not awake. "I love you. Everything is all right. Stay still. I know how much you love me." For the time that she was awake, Mary held Wilson as close to her body as she could get him. They both needed so desperately to feel each other, and took reassurance in the other's touch.

As the time drew on, he could feel Mary slipping away from him. Tears periodically rolled down her cheeks; she was in pain. He was in more, though. He cried almost nonstop, knowing that she was too of it to realize how upset he was. All of that crying tuckered him out much faster than he anticipated. He fell asleep caressing her body gently.

At around three o'clock in the morning, Wilson was pulled from his sleep. Some unidentifiable force pulled him out of his slumber and had him look down at Mary. She looked up at him for a moment, kissed his chest, and closed her eyes. Wilson stared at her for another ten minutes. By the end of that short time period, she was gone. Mary had left Wilson to go to a better place.

_

_

_

A/N: Yes, I killed her. I know none of you wanted her to die, but that was planned right after I ever dreamed up her having cancer. The story wasn't and still isn't about Mary being sick, or her dying, or her getting married. It's about the repercussions of lying; how every action has infinite consequences for other people- for everyone around you. I hope you all understand.

With that said, the next chapter is going to be Wilson vs. the Camdens. Let's get ready to rumbllllllle!  I already have that written, so depending on how many people I feel have read this between now and tomorrow it will probably be up tomorrow afternoon.

_

_

_

Reviews will help mend Wilson's broken heart.

_

_

_


	33. Expository Statements

_

_

_

Wilson's finger shook as he rang the doorbell to the Camden house. He wanted to break down and cry right then; he didn't have the strength to do this. George placed his hand on Wilson's shoulder sympathetically and that temporarily helped, but not enough to mask all of the pain he was feeling. He needed Mary back; it was as simple as that.

It took a while for the door to open, and that allowed Wilson's mind to wander. He was forcing himself to think about things other than the task at hand, because dwelling on it like he had since Mary passed was driving him insane. It wasn't helping him come to terms with her dying, either. Alas, the door finally opened. Ruthie was the one who opened it, followed by some boy who appeared to be around her age. Peter he assumed.

"You're that guy from church, George, right?" she asked looking at George.

"That would be me," he replied. 

"Did you want to talk to my dad? I don't know if he's around though," she said cranking her head to look about the house behind her, "but you could always talk to my mom. Or to Lucy."

George looked to Wilson, then back at Ruthie. "Um, we kind of need to speak to your parents."

"Both of them?" Peter piped in, curious himself. Wilson just nodded.

Ruthie showed the two men into the house and then went off to find her parents. She emerged five minutes later with both Annie and Eric, Peter still scurrying along behind her. The three Camdens looked at George and Wilson quizzically, not saying anything as their brains processed the faces before them. It was taking at little bit for it to click.

"I know you," Ruthie said before her parents could react. "You're Wilson."

"Hi Ruthie," Wilson choked out slowly. This was close to impossible. Everyone and everything reminded him of Mary so much. 

Now Ruthie was interested in what was going on. Her parents were still confused, and taking full advantage of that she was able to worm her way into the living room with her parents, George, and Wilson without anyone taking much notice. Everyone took their seats on the couches that are normally used and stared at one another, trying to figure this all out. It seemed like everyone was confused.

"So, Wilson. What brings you here?" Eric asked.

Wilson cleared his throat and wet his lips before speaking. "You know George, right? Well, he's my brother."

All three Camdens and the one Petrowsky knew that something was off with Wilson, even the one who only knew Wilson as the myth and legend. "Is something wrong Wilson?" Annie asked him.

Before he had a chance to answer, the rest of the crew walked in the front door and into the foyer. Kevin, Lucy, and Roxanne emerged, walking into the living room while still talking. Once they noticed everyone sitting in there, they piped down.

"Um, hi," Lucy said.

George, who was sitting on the end of the couch closest to the room entrance and the people who just had entered, smiled a hello at each of them. Seeing George, Roxanne plowed through Kevin and Lucy to get to him. 

"Hello," she said leaning against the arm of the couch and flashing him a seductive smile. 

George leaned away from her. "Hi," he said, slightly taken aback by her lack of reservation.

"Wilson," Annie said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lucy said. "I bet you were in the middle of something."  She grabbed Roxanne's arm and started to drag her away from George. "We were just leaving."

"You don't have to leave," Wilson piped up. "This has to do with your whole family." Wilson took notice of Roxanne. "Well, you and Kevin can stay."

Roxanne reluctantly said good-bye and left the house, followed by Peter who did the same. Lucy and Kevin sat down on the couch next to Annie, Eric, and Ruthie.

"Wilson," Lucy said as she sat, "I didn't even notice that you were here. Hi."

"Hi," Wilson said meekly.

"Wait a second," she said. "How did you know who Kevin was?" The room was quiet for a second as they waited for Wilson for answer. He had no intentions of doing so, however, but he didn't have to. "Mary," they all muttered at once.

Wilson's body stiffened. No one had said "Mary" since she died. Since then, it had always been "she" or "her," out of Wilson and George's attempt to respect her memory. Also, it was subconsciously helping them by doing this. When they said her name, it made them remember that she was really gone. "She" could have been anyone, but "Mary" was definitely Mary.

"Have you been talking to Mary?" Eric asked. "Is that what this is about?"

 "In a way," he answered. Wilson took a few deep breaths before starting to tell his story to the Camdens- the story he had promised Mary on her deathbed that he would tell them. "Mary and I have been speaking, I guess you could say, for about five months now." Tears deluged in his eyes but he quickly blinked them away. No way was he going to allow himself to cry in front of Mary's parents- at least not yet anyway. "Then, we kind of got married in the middle of December. We eloped."

He paused, waiting for their reactions. There was shock on their faces, yet they were not surprised. As Wilson thought about it, he wouldn't have been surprised either if he had found out Mary had eloped. She was the one who proposed to him and suggested eloping after all.

"So, where is Mary?" Ruthie asked.

"I don't mean to be rude, but could I finish please?" He bowed his head. "I assure you your question will be answered." Everyone thought that this was odd, but they let Wilson speak. "I wouldn't have let her elope with me; I would have made her come and tell you guys. But because she was hiding something else from you, something much more significant, I didn't press her on it too much." He smiled slightly. "You have to pick your battles with her."

"What else was she keeping from us?" Eric asked. "Is she all right?"

Wilson shook his head. "Mary…Mary…" Despite his best efforts, Wilson couldn't do it. He wept into his hands and George took over for him.

"Mary's been battling cervical cancer since the end of September. Probably since before then, really, but that was when she was diagnosed."

"What?" Annie said quietly.

"I was her doctor. I'm a gynecologic oncologist."

"But we just saw her last Sunday," Annie said. "She couldn't have been that sick. She looked fine to me."

Kevin was the one most objective to the whole situation, so he was the first to pick up on it. "What do you mean 'was'? Why are you talking about Mary in the past tense?"

Wilson looked up for a second and saw Lucy's face drain of all color. "No…" she muttered quietly.

Wilson placed his hand on George's knee for a second, signaling that he would continue with the story. He wanted to be the one to bear the forefront of the Camden's wrath, and he knew that this was something that he had to do himself. It wouldn't be of any assistance if George told them for him. "Mary passed away yesterday morning." Wilson's voice stopped shaking the more that he spoke. "She was in the hospital for four days. The cancer had spread quickly, and she just couldn't fight it anymore."

"You're lying," Eric said with anger in his voice. "She would never keep anything that big from us for that long. And…and even if she did we would have figured it out. I'll just call her right now and prove that you are lying to us." Eric went into the kitchen and came back with the portable phone. He dialed the number of Mary's cell phone carefully and waited until it rang.

After Eric heard the first ring through the receiver, a phone in Wilson's pocket rang- "Mary Had a Little Lamb". He pulled it out and held it in his hands, running his fingers along the smooth, red plastic of the casing. "I've been carrying it around with me," he said to no one in particular.

Tears fell from Ruthie's eyes as she leaned against her mother for moral support. Annie wrapped her arm around Ruthie with tears in her own eyes. Kevin got up and went over to tend to Lucy on the couch. 

Wilson reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a bunch of envelopes. "What's that?" Eric asked insolently. He was not at all pleased with Wilson and still very much in denial.

"Letters. Mary wrote these a while ago and she wanted me to give them to you." He flipped through them, looking at the names on every one of them. "There's one for each of you here, minus the ones she left for me and George." He sniveled. "I'm sure these will explain a lot to you, but if you have any questions or anything, feel free to call me." He handed Eric the letters with a piece of paper with his home and cell numbers on top.

Wilson sighed heavily as Eric passed out the letters to the rest of the family, holding on to the one for the twins who were upstairs being innocent and carefree. "I'm sure this is a very private moment among family, and although I realize that technically I am family, I don't feel that way and neither do you probably. I barely feel like I know you, and I take full responsibility for that. So I'll leave you alone now; I don't want to hurt you anymore. I've said my piece." He stood and George followed suit. "We can let ourselves out. Good bye."

_

_

_

_

_

A/N: Yeah, I figured since I got 9 reviews everyone has read it and I can post this one. There really wasn't any confrontation in this chapter. It was just…dialog. Next chapter will give you more of a reaction from the Camdens point of view to the events of this chapter. ***Only 2 more chaps after this one! WAAAH!

And I am happy that you all liked the last chapter. Apparently, there were a lot of tears. I guess that is a good thing. Personally, I thought it was too rushed to evoke any true emotions, but maybe it wasn't. :shrugs: Well, just wanted to say thanks to my loyal readers. You mean so very much to me.

_

_

_

Reviews will make everyone's frowns turn upside down.

_

_

_


	34. In Loving Memory

_

_

_

Three days after the jig was up, the GlenOak Community Church was filled to the brim. It was mostly onlookers, people passing through just to see the goings on and give their take on what the story was. The large room was definitely a buzz, which made Wilson angry. This was time to mourn his wife, the one woman whom he had shared every aspect of himself with so willingly, and no one seemed to be aware of that. The entire situation, admittedly so, was disrespectful in a purposeful kind of way.

Wilson sat in the center of the third pew from the front on the right, with Billy on his left and George on his right. His mother had not come, a result of George's urging to not make any more of a spectacle out of the event and Mrs. West's lack of motivation to go. George and Billy both sat uncomfortably next to Wilson in their dark colored dress clothes. Neither of them knew what to do with a stone-faced Wilson, much less how they should be comforting him now. It was a foreign land for both of them.

Staring straight ahead with a slight pout on his face, Wilson was relatively emotionless. He knew exactly how he was feeling, but chose not to let the outside world the slightest glimpse into his head. The only person who had ever gotten that close was Mary. Now that she was gone, no one was ever getting that close to him again. He didn't have the strength to open up like that and get shot down once again.

His attention wasn't focused on any of that, however. He was much more concerned with the family sitting on the other side of the church, two rows in front of him. They were visible out of the corner of his eye, and that was a good thing, for he was afraid to intentionally look in their direction. From what he was able to see from where he sat, they were all hurt and angry. Sad, too, but more angry. 

The Camdens were quiet as the neighborhood and church members came over to lend their condolences and pry into exactly what had happened to Mary. They all said nothing, not even to Chandler, Roxanne, Cecilia, or Peter when they questioned them with honorable intentions. The rumors were all flying around the church because they were not talking. People came up with everything from suicide to drug overdose to a car crash that was her fault.

This was the weirdest memorial service Wilson had ever attended. It was just a bunch of people sitting around in the church. Nothing was being said to remember Mary, and nothing was being done to preserve her memory. He knew that this should give him at least the smallest amount of closure, but it was giving him none at all. 

Wilson wasn't the only one who knew this wasn't going very well. George excused himself from his nephew and his brother's side and stood up. He walked over to Chandler, who was sitting in the pew behind the Camdens, and tapped him on the shoulder. Wilson figured it was now safe to look over in their direction, solely to find out what George was up to. He saw Chandler motion to Eric, then shrug his shoulders, nod, and George walked to the front of the church. The lump in Wilson's throat tripled in size; he just wanted to go home.

George cleared his throat. "Excuse me." No one was listening. "Excuse me," he said slightly louder. Still, no one acknowledged his presence. "Can I have your attention for a moment?" he asked in almost a yell. Finally, people started to pay attention to George, taking their seats and quieting down to hear what he was going to say. Maybe he would offer them some sort of an explanation.

"I just, I wanted to say a few words about Mary, if I may." There seemed to be no objection from the masses, so he continued. "I just wanted to say what a beautiful woman she was, inside and out. She was gorgeous on the outside, as I am sure that you all know. But once you got past that, she really was an amazing person. She was smart, witty, funny, sweet, passionate, loving- anything good that can be said about any one of you sitting here can most likely be said about Mary, too.  But one of her best qualities, I think, was that she was so refreshing. Whenever I would see her, I could sort of breathe a sigh of relief; she was a real stress-reliever for me."

George paused for a moment as he realized that everyone was listening, even the Camdens. "Mary made my brother so happy. I am…or I was, her brother-in-law." The people who knew the Camdens better than the average GlenOak resident looked over in the Camden's direction, slightly stunned and bemused. No one was aware that Mary had married. "She loved him more than I ever knew that someone could love another person, and I know that Wilson felt the exact same about her. The two of them had such an amazing connection that at times it made me jealous. They were such a cute couple and I loved spending time with them together, seeing as though it got very lonely in my house all by myself." George's eyes glazed over. "I really am going to miss that…and her. She really meant a lot to both of us," he said referring to himself and Wilson, "and she'll be forever in our hearts."

Quietly, George walked back over to his seat and sat down. Wilson, using all of the strength he had left from forcing himself not to cry, reached up and patted George on the shoulder. George smiled slightly; he knew that that was Wilson-ese for "thank you." He had done a good deed and he knew it, but now was certainly not the time to get cocky.

Wilson slowly turned to look down at Billy. He had tears running down his cheeks, but he was trying once again to put on his bravest face for his father. He had seen his dad depressed many a time, and it always made Billy feel the same way inside- terrible. Billy grabbed Wilson's big hand in his little one and squeezed it tightly. "Uncle George is right," he said resolutely, "she'll always be in our hearts. It will be OK Dad."

Inside, Wilson was sobbing. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. The combination of pity, anger, and judgment were eating away at his last shreds of mental and emotional stability. He needed to get away from everyone and just be alone. That was all he had wanted since Mary had passed, to be by himself and reflect on the last five months of his life. He had to make sure that he remembered them, savored every last detail. He was convinced that they would be the last happy times he would have for a while, if not for the rest of his life.

Wilson turned back to the front of the church, expressionless. His lips pursed together and his pout reformed. Nothing would ever be the same again, nothing.

_

_

_

A/N: So, what did you guys think of the nondescript "memorial service" for our beloved Mary. I know she will always be in my heart. ::tear:: I think this chapter was OK. Not that great.

Next chapter is the last. It's going to be a little in the future, somewhere in the realm of a week or two. I haven't quite decided when yet. It's going to be a little bit different of a concept, too. I feel it is going be suck really badly, but that maybe it won't. That's just what my gut is telling.

_

_

Will Mary always be in _your_ heart? Review and tell me how big of a chunk you've allotted her.


	35. Amen

_

_

_

George shook his head as he closed the door to Wilson's bedroom three weeks later. Wilson was a complete and total mess, to say the least. Once he arrived back home from the memorial service, he had locked himself in the bedroom and refused to come out when anyone or anything beckoned him. In that time period, he had only eaten about ten meals and had about four showers. He had practically grown a full beard and was truly starting to reek. It was all very pathetic and unnerving to George.

George had "borrowed" Wilson's keys, since Wilson wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon, and had a copy of the key to the apartment made for himself. Wilson would rarely get up to answer the doorbell. Besides that, George had taken care of everything else, too. He had kept in contact with Wilson's work, begging them for an extended leave of absence for his brother due to Wilson's little mental breakdown, and paid his bills for him.

If that wasn't bad enough, Wilson had stopped talking altogether last week. George spent all of the time he was not working or sleeping with Wilson, and when he came by Monday night, Wilson refused to say anything. He tried to make light conversation, tell him that it was actually close to eighty degrees outside, ask him if he wanted anything to eat, but Wilson wouldn't speak. He just lay on the bed, his arms strung out perpendicular to his torso, and kept his mouth shut. 

Everyday he came by after that Wilson had been crying. He noticeably tried to hide his tears from George, but he was not very good at it. He was trying to be as sympathetic to Wilson's needs as a man could possibly be, but at some point it was starting to become too much for him to handle. As he left the house that night, he decided upon something. It was time for someone to shake Wilson by the shoulders and help him brave the world again. He needed to set up an intervention.

***

"Wilson? It's George." Pause. "I know you're there, so I'll just talk." Another pause and an audible sigh. "I just wanted to make sure that you were awake. You should get up, get out of that room…eat something, take a shower…"

Wilson hung up the phone even though George was still talking on the other end. He didn't want to listen to George ramble on and on anymore about how he was crazy and wasting his life. He didn't care what George thought about him; he never once asked for his opinion or anyone else's for that matter. It's funny how when you don't want to hear it, that's when everyone will tend to speak up. 

He couldn't even defend himself, either, because he was choosing to refrain from speaking. He knew that that was probably the strangest thing he could have done yet, but he didn't care. If he had something to say he would say it, but until then he wasn't saying anything at all. Nor was he going on with life as usual. It was just too soon for him to even think about continuing with any sort of daily routine that did not include Mary.

Tears rolled down his face and onto his yellowed t-shirt, but he didn't even notice. He had cried thousands upon thousands of tears since Mary's death that he had accepted it as part of life now. The doorbell rang, and he jumped. He continued to remain horizontal, without realizing that he hadn't gotten up. The bell rang again and he rolled off of the bed. As he went to exit the room, he passed the mirror mounted on the side of the bedroom wall. He stopped to look in it, rubbing his fingers over his coarse facial hair and wet cheeks. George wasn't kidding, he really did look like disorder had swarmed him. 

He walked out into the living room. To avoid looking at the couch or the kitchen, where he and Mary would often frequent, he looked down at his feet as he walked to the front door. As he did this, he took notice the size of his stomach. He had lost a decent amount of weight and was much skinnier than he had remembered himself being. 

The doorknob was cold to the touch, almost piercing his skin at contact. The doorbell rang once more as he turned the knob and pulled. The person who stood before him frightened the fragile Wilson, so much so that he took a few steps back from the doorway.

Eric didn't say anything for a while, forgetting why he was there altogether. Wilson looked ten times worse than he had felt as his most dreadful point about two weeks ago. To some extent, he was over his daughter's death, but seeing Wilson before him in the state that he was in reminded him ever so quickly of how bad he and his family had gotten earlier. All of their pain together, though, could not match what Wilson was apparently feeling.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me; I didn't mean to stare." Wilson didn't say anything. "Could I have a few words with you son?" Eric asked, motioning to go inside.

Wilson stepped aside and allowed his father-in-law access to the apartment. He watched as Eric walked directly over to the sofa and sat down. Grudgingly, Wilson did the same.

"So, how are you doing?" No answer. "Right, I was told that you weren't speaking. Your brother called me. He told me about…this little phase that you are going through, your appearance and lack of motivation and such. I have to say that I didn't believe him, because I always thought of you as such a strong person, but after seeing you…" Wilson nodded. "George wants me to help you. He thinks that you need help. I…I don't want to push you or anything, but if you want to talk I'm here for you." A silent speech hiatus. "On a personal level, I hope that you will talk to me. I'd like to talk to you. I think it would be good for us. We're bound together by the union between you and Mary."

Wilson would have been OK if Eric hadn't said Mary's name. The mere mention of her and he lost it. Wilson blubbered in front of the reverend, his hands covering his face as tears poured viciously from his eyes. He put all of the strength he had left into stopping his tears, but his efforts were futile. There was no stopping true emotion.

Eric wanted to reach out and embrace Wilson but he refrained from doing so. From the second that he had opened the door, Eric had felt the hostility that was coming from Wilson, and he understood why he felt that way. However, it wasn't that he or any of the other Camdens were trying to shut him out or be impolite, but they were blindsided by the death of their beloved Mary. No one knew how to react, and they didn't want to say something out of anger or sadness that they would regret later. That was their explanation for the distance, at least the explanation they liked to tell themselves.

Wilson stopped crying for a moment and looked up at Eric. Eric sensed that Wilson wanted to say something to him, so he tried to coax him with his eyes. He didn't think he had done a very good job, but it worked nonetheless. "I don't know what to do with myself Reverend. She was my whole world; she meant everything to me. "

"I understand," he said sympathetically.

"I guess…I guess I'm not moving on because I can't. I have to get over her death before I can begin to let go of it and continue on with everything else. But I don't know how to get over her, to get over any of this." He started to cry again. "I wasn't prepared to lose her. I never really thought-" His voice was drowned out by his sobs and eventually he stopped speaking again.

"I'm sure you didn't. Most people don't; it's much harder to function when you have that mentality." 

"I've been comparing this to when I lost Billy's mother, because that is the only thing I can compare it to. But I guess I shouldn't be doing that, because it was hardly the same. I was so young, and we were only married for… I kept myself busy with Billy. And although I hate to admit it, little by little I forgot about how life was before everything happened and focused on my new life. I had to. But I don't have that driving force to help pull me together."

"What about work?"

"I hate my job. I've been thinking about quitting and doing something I would actually have some sort of interest in. Besides, I could afford to be out of work for a while. I have the money from my father, and I'm sure this is the sort of thing he would want me to use the money he left me for. That would be OK with him."

Eric's eyes turned sympathetic again. "I heard about your father. I'm so sorry Wilson. He was such a good man." Wilson nodded, agreeing. "How did you deal with that?"

He sighed. "I didn't, and that probably isn't helping me now. Plus my mom, and the divorce. I'm emotionally burnt out." His eyes glazed over again. "Mary would have been able to help me; she had been trying to help me cope, but then she got sicker. I-I need her."

"It seems like we have a lot to talk about Wilson," Eric said.

Wilson was slightly taken aback by Eric's assumption that he would just discuss everything that was and had ever bothered him with Eric. He always was a tad audacious, though, if Wilson remembered correctly. "I'd much rather just talk about Mary, if you don't mind Sir. Those other issues can stay unresolved; I'd be perfectly fine with that."

Eric smiled a little, which made Wilson very angry. For the past few days, he couldn't help but think that it was Eric and Annie's past wrongdoings that had killed Mary. If she hadn't had the extra stress on her about her family and everything that that necessitated, she could have very well lived much longer, or enjoyed the time she did have a little more. At her happiest, Wilson knew that she was never completely happy. Their disapproval had always set her back. Her parents stole such a big part of Mary from her, and from him as well, that Wilson resented them for that. It could have just been the depression talking, but he wasn't too jovial.

He took a deep breath and cleared his head. Wilson couldn't be thinking like that. Mary wouldn't have wanted him to have that kind of relationship with her family. Wilson stared in Eric's eyes and promised himself that he would build the kind of relationship with his in-laws that Mary never had a chance to have, the kind of relationship he had never had with his own parents. She would have wanted everyone to be happy, and more importantly for them to be friends. Speaking terms wouldn't be good enough for Mary. Wilson had to go above and beyond for her, simply because she was still his everything. 

"So," Eric said, tears in his own eyes, "could I ask you a few questions…about Mary?"

Wilson nodded approvingly. This was how he was going to deal with everything, by facing life head on and confronting Eric and the rest of the Camdens with his and Mary's life together. He owed them that much, and he owed it to himself. He wanted no regrets, no guilt, and most significantly, no lying.

***

That Saturday, Wilson rang the doorbell to the Camdens house. He remembered the last time he had been there, and all of the times he had been their prior- when things used to be happy and innocent. Now…not so happy and not so innocent. The door opened to reveal a tired but pleasant Annie. One step closer to being happier and once again innocent.

The Wests were joining the Camdens for dinner that night. Annie's idea, and Wilson's acceptance, based upon his new interaction policy. The table was set when they arrived, and the trio sat right down in the dining room after a few weak hellos. Billy sat next to David and Sam, and the boys instantly started to chat it up. Their voices were the only ones in the entire room.

The dinner was a special one; Wilson could feel it. Friends of the Camdens had been inviting themselves over to eat with them to keep them company and get their minds off of everything. Tonight, Annie had shooed them all away- this was going to be a strictly "family only" dinner.

Annie, Lucy, and Ruthie came in with plates full of food. They sat down and everyone knew it was time to eat. The boys quieted down and the twins looked to their father at the head of the table; Billy did the same, as did everyone else. "Who would like to say Grace?" Eric asked.

Wilson spoke up. "I would, if you don't mind." Eric smiled at him reassuringly and nodded. The table bowed their heads and clasped their hands together. "Dear Lord, thank you for this food that you have so graciously bestowed upon us. Please bless everyone here at this table, and the one person who couldn't be with us this evening. " He hesitated, but then continued. "It's been one month and nine days since you have taken her, Lord, and I know that we are all still trying to cope with the loss. Please give us the strength to continue, because mourning can often be a long and tumultuous road. Make sure that you continue to watch out over Mary up there, and let her know that we all still love her, because although this meal will be gone in about a half an hour, out love for her can never be swallowed and forgotten so simply." He paused as a tear of remembrance for the breathtaking wife, adored sister, darling daughter, and amiable friend rolled down his cheek. "Amen."

_

**The End**

_

_

A/N: That's it, the end! I am so, so sad. You have no idea. I usually don't cry when I am writing these things, because I generally have done them over about four times already in my head by the time I type them, and because I don't get that emotionally attached to my stories, but I cried writing the last paragraph. This whole chapter, while I had the basic idea, was done on the fly. I like it, except for the Wilson/Eric stuff (which was kind of the bulk of the chapter no less.)  

_

I really hope that you all enjoyed the last chapter and the entire story. I aim to please, both my readers and myself. For once, I think I have actually accomplished that. I'm so proud!

As for more works by me…add me to your author alerts or keep checking back. While I don't have any official ideas for a story yet, I can never stay away for too long. I promise you, one day I will be back.

_

_

Your reviews have meant a great deal to me throughout this story. They are the motivating force and inspiration that kept me going. I want to thank each and every one of you for your reviews. They truly mean the world to me.

_

_


End file.
